Healing A Broken Heart In 30 Days
by DearestMrIcarus
Summary: When LB rejects Chat, Adrien is left heartbroken. Years later he still carries the pain of hearbreak. When he plans to move away, his best friend, Marinette still takes a chance and confesses her love for him. Instead of rejecting her, he proposes a deal: If he falls in love with her in the next month, he'll stay with her. (updated on Thursdays)
1. Day 1

**I wanted to write something fun and cute and heartbreaking all at once. This story is full of short chapters, but as a benefit, I hope to release chapters almost daily.**

**Disclaimer- Own MLB? Nope.**

Two years prior, Chat Noir stood on a Parisian rooftop and gulped.

The cool evening wind didn't seem to compliment his nervously glistening skin. He let out a quick shiver before speaking.

"Ladybug?" he inquired earnestly.

"What's up Kitty?"

The sixteen year old man inhaled, begging the universe, luck, fate, destiny, or deity to protect his wish.

"Bugaboo..."

"Chat, what's up?"

"Promise to not make fun of me?" He entreated his friend.

"Never," she promised.

"I always say that you are the girl for me. And I think you think it's a joke".

A little bit of Marinette crept out as Ladybug fell to the ground.

The hero rose to her aid as he continued his confession.

"And it isn't. I am hopelessly and entirely in love with you," he began, lifting his partner,"not just the suit. I love that you sometimes stumble and fall. I love when you bite your lip after saying something silly, or when you scrunch your face after making a mistake. I love your calmness, and how your mind thinks. I love your kindness, and desire to help others. I love you".

Ladybug felt gravity overcome her jaw.

"Um... Kitty," she offered delicately," I love you too, but not like that. You are my best friend, the boy who can make me laugh when all the other boys make me want to scream... But I will always be your friend!"

She smiled softly, waiting for Chat to recover with a joke. Instead he spoke solemnly.

"I get it... um... Bug, can I have a hug?"

As arms were extended, Chat hugged her and sobbed: not a tear, nor gentle weeping. He cried very much the same way he had when his mother had died.

Ladybug just clutched the vulnerable boy as a stream of dejected agony trickled down her shoulder blade.

"I did this," she thought in anguish," and I can't do a thing to fix it".

Simultaneously the hero in her arms made himself a heartbreaking vow.

"I will never love again".

The following pair of years were tough for both teens. Alya moved to London for an internship with a well known newspaper. Nino was in Japan, promoting his up and coming album.

Adrien had taken on many Gabrielish attributes. He was colder, busier, and had pushed everyone away in his life. Well almost everyone. He had relied on Marinette's friendship more than anything in this time.

One day the pair were sitting on a park bench, the way they sometimes did. Each had one earbud in their ears, listening to a new Jagged Stone song on Adrien's phone.

Adrien slid his hand in Mari's, allowing the words of the music to fill his soul, begging the numbness to remain.

Nothing had been the same since that wretched day. Colours had faded, flavours dulled, and every smile was hollow.

Marinette had watched his downward spiral, and in some strange maternal way it had caused her to love him even more.

She squeezed his hand, knowing that she had to speak now. School would be ending in a month, and after graduation Adrien had told her that he was leaving his hometown to pursue modeling elsewhere.

"I have no reason to stay," he had explained. And so now Marinette knew she had to expose her feelings, if not to give him a reason to stay, at least to provide her with closure.

"Adrien, I love you," slipped out of her lips before she could think.

"That's stupid," he replied tersely.

She looked at her sweet little cinnamon roll in unrestrained shock.

Adrien realised how harsh that sounded, and explained.

"I mean, I'm a poor choice. If I could fall in love with anyone in the world, it would be you... but... I lost my heart in this city, and I don't think hearts grow back".

Marinette listened to the excuse, but refused to accept it.

"It will grow back...Please, take a chance on me?" she begged tearfully.

Suddenly, without even having fallen in love with his friend, his heart was at the fringe of breaking again.

A tiny subconscious part of his mind -the part that still believed in love- spoke in place of his uncertain silence.

"Tell you what, let's make a deal. For the next month I'll be your boyfriend. If I fall in love with you, I'll tell Father I've reconsidered leaving Paris. If not, you need to promise to accept me as your best friend, and know I can't be anything more".

Outwardly he looked doubtful that it would work, but in that tiny corner of hope his brain held, he wished he could learn to love again.

"Ok," Marinette sniffled, squeezing his hand tighter.

They shared the same common realisation.

"This is double or nothing. Two hearts find joy, or the pair find bitter heartbreak".

They had 30 days to heal a broken heart.

**I have a rough idea where this is going, but I haven't structured it like the rest of my fictions, so let me know if y'all have ideas, suggestions, or additions to the story. **


	2. Day 2

**So I hid a reference to one of my favorite fanfics (let's see if anyone finds it).**

**Disclaimer- I don't definitely absolutely completely don't not have no rights to MLB in the history of never... I think...**

Day 2

"What did I do?!" Adrien thought to himself groggily, staring at the sleeping angel before him.

After the friends had decided to "start dating", they had gone to Adrien's house to play Ultimate Mecha Strike V, and after a couple hours of getting his trash kicked, Adrien finally won a round... because Marinette had fallen asleep.

Gabriel was away on business, and Tom and Sabine were attending a bakers convention; they had closed the shop for the weekend. So Adrien had let her sleep next to him. Originally he had been asleep one one side of the couch, and Marinette the other.

However, he learned at that they must both move in their sleep, because he woke up sandwiched between the couch and Marinette, his arms wrapped around her.

"I. Am. Not. Spooning. My. Best. Friend," he whispered.

But he most certainly was.

A red streak flashed in his peripheral vision, and he turned his head to see Plagg.

Adrien spotted his Kwami staring and spoke.

"Plagg. Help me".

"No," the Kwami shook his head, then explained.

"Remember last week, when you got me Crémière De France instead of Marks and Spencer, like you promised?" The black furball huffed in indignation.

"Wait, you're mad that I bought the wrong brand of Camembert?"

The Kwami shook his head vigorously.

"Plagg, I swear if you don't help me I will buy you nothing but brie for the next year".

Plagg gasped.

"N-now, Adrien, no need to get hasty," he said nervously,"let's not say anything we might regret later. How may I be of service to my wonderful master?"

Adrien gestured to the phone, which Plagg quickly retrieved.

He took a selfie to show his predicament and began to type, hoping that the time difference was in his favour.

_To: Nino_

**From: Adrien**

Attached picture

**Help. I'm trapped**.

**Btw, I hope you are awake in Tokyo.**

_Lol, Alya's gonna love this.__And yes, it's mid afternoon here._

**Wait, don't send that to Alya.**

_Oh... too late_.

**Why would you do that?**

_Well officially we ended things amicably, but let's be honest, I blew it when I agreed to this tour without telling her.__I need to gain her favour if I want a chance back with her, you know?_

Adrien sighed.

**I gotcha. **

By now the beautiful mass in front of him was stirring. She snuggled deeper into his grasp, letting out a satisfied sigh.

Carefully Adrien placed the phone on the coffee table.

With that, her eyes shot open, and she screamed, causing Adrien to jump.

"Marinette what's wrong?"

"I f-fell a-a-asleep s-snug-snuggling with you," she said, cursing the stammer she thought had disappeared months ago.

"Actually you fell asleep over there," Adrien pointed,"apparently we have a predisposition to snuggle when we sleep togeth-- I mean FALL asleep together".

By this point their cheeks resembled the color of strawberries.

"Oh... S-sorry," Marinette sputtered.

"It's fine, I fell asleep on that side, so we must have both moved," he admitted,"anyways, want breakfast?"

"Sure, let's go!" she replied, glad yo get away from the awkward conversation.

Adrien shot her a confused stare. As Marinette returned it, she suddenly realised what the rich boy was suggesting.

"Adrien, my parents own the best bakery in Paris, of which I'm an employee. Do you really think I'm going gonna let some pretty boy's personal chef make me a sub-par breakfast?"

They made their way to the kitchen and dismissed the staff (with some protest). Eventually the pair found their way to the flour, and Marinette showed Adrien how to make pancakes. Halfway through her explanation she tripped and knocked the bowl of flour over Adrien's pants. He looked at his pants, the at his friend ("girlfriend").

"I'm so so sorry Adri--"

Her apology was interrupted by a barrage of white powder. She looked at Adrien, and saw something she hadn't seen in nearly two years. Adrien was smiling, and not just a playful smile, a full Chat Noir-esque ear to ear grin.

"I'm going to get you back!" She squealed, wiping grains from her face.

Eventually they decided to skip breakfast to make it to school on time, though Marinette convinced Adrien to let her make them coffee.

"Here you go," she offered.

Adrien accepted it hesitantly. He wasn't a big coffee drinker. While he loved the smell, and took the chance to enjoy the aroma, he wasn't a big fan of stimulants.

"What's wrong? Do you think I poisoned it?" Marinette teased.

Adrien grinned, "No, sorry, just thinking".

He let out a sigh of pleasure as the warm fluid caressed his taste buds.

As the morning broke to school time, the couple hurried to class, still messy.

Adrien groaned as he sat in his seat. For someone who would never love again, he sure felt close to Marinette.

"I'm not in love," he reminded himself.

**_Ugh! Adrien, just accept that this is supposed to be a cute Adrienette story! Stop fighting it._**


	3. Day 3

**More of an explanatory chapter.**

Day 3

"Ok, no falling for her. Remember, WE ARE JUST FRIENDS," Adrien reassured himself.

Adrien eyed Mari. She was leaning against him, staring at the match.

Marinette had got them fencing tickets, suggesting it would be a perfect way to spend time (she considered it a date).

Adrien just saw it as his friend (who he was technically dating) offering to give him a ticket. Honestly he didn't even like fencing. At least not since Ladybug had broken his heart.

The pair continued to watch the sport, and Marinette slid her hand in Adrien's. It had become quite common for the pair, and both viewed it as more platonic than romantically affectionate.

"Point to Kagami Tsurugi," the announcer yelled.

Marinette noticed this was the only match that Adrien seemed to pay any attention to. She couldn't help but feel a small pang of jealousy. It didn't help when Adrien's old friend noticed him in the stands and waved to him.

As the green monster worked its magic on Marinette, a thought popped into her mind.

"I am dating Adrien... and we haven't kissed".

Marinette spent the rest of the afternoon wondering if she should mention this epiphany to Adrien, or just hope thst he made a move on her.

She ended up opting to wait, hoping Adrien made his move on her porch... which of course he didn't. The day felt like a total bust.

At 19:00 the couple separated ways, knowing that it was time to meet as superheroes.

They bid one another farewell, only to reemerge 5 minutes later on the rooftop they used as a meeting point, unaware they had spent the whole day together.

"Hey Chat it's crazy to think we haven't seen each other in a month. Do you think it's weird that Hawkmoth stopped attacking Paris," Ladybug asked.

"Sure," he said dryly.

Marinette winced. "Two years, and he still hasn't forgiven me". It only then occured to her that she had basically done the same thing to Chat as the mystery girl had done to Adrien (she still had no clue that she was both those girls).

"What do you suppose happened to him?" She asked casually.

Hawkmoth hadn't attacked in over 9 months. The heroes still met on a monthly basis, but the meetings were more ceremonial than necessary.

Of course Adrien had an idea of why Hawkmoth had stopped.

It all started 10 months prior. After a particularly difficult battle Chat Noir had haphazardly jumped into his bedroom via his room's large glass window. He had then proceeded to detransformed. Right in front of his Father.

Gabriel had stared, slack jawed for nearly a minute, though it felt much longer. He simply hugged Adrien (which even Adrien knew was odd), and exited the room, leaving behind a somber mood.

As the days turned to weeks, Hawkmoth was no where to be found, and Adrien had noticed his father had become obsessed with alcohol. If he wasn't working he was drunk, and if he wasn't drunk it was because he was working.

Adrien saw only one reasonable explanation.

"I think my Father killed him,... or rather paid to have him killed" he said, simply.

"WHAT?!" Ladybug cried.

"Yeah," he reaffirmed.

"We can't let him get away with murder!" she screamed,"who is your Father?"

"I can't tell you, that would reveal my identity," Chat commented snidely.

In reality he neither wanted Ladybug to know his identity nor have his father arrested.

The duo sat in silence, though Ladybug knew this man would have to face justice if he really had killed their enemy. She promised herself that she would discover Chat's identity, just to bring Hawkmoth's killer to justice.

"Ok, nevermind," she said, feigning disinterest.

Another wave of silence flowed over the pair.

"Anyways, how is life?" She asked sincerely.

"Ok. My best friend is trying to help me with something, but just needs to recognize it's a lost cause".

Ladybug laughed. "See, I'm in the opposite situation. My boyfriend is totally in denial, and I am just waiting for him to see the truth".

Chat nodded. "Well I hope you are able to convince him," he said, with a touch of envy. He knew he would never love Ladybug again. He wouldn't allow himself to make that mistake twice, but still, her boyfriend was one lucky guy.

His thoughts were interrupted by a strange question.

"Chat. Why did you fall in love with me?" Ladybug asked frankly.

An involuntary smile graced his lips as he recalled his lovestruck former self.

"You are kind, creative, funny, smart, beautiful, and an absolutely wonderful person..."

She smiled. Not just at the compliments, but because if she was honest with herself, she had to admit Marinette had those qualities too.

The next phrase would kill every last bit of hope she had.

"... and I was stupid enough to believe in love".

_**Ouch kitty.**_


	4. Day 4

Next Chapter is up. This one is a bit dark, jsut so you know. So don't expect any fluff.

Disclaimer: Don't own MLB

Day 4

The teen rested his head on the pillow, knowing full well what was going to come. But no one can evade the enticing call of sleep forever. And so, with the last of his fight extinguished, his eyelids fell.

Adrien stared at the black void, and the eyeless maw somehow returned the the gaze.

The same blonde woman who was always here watched over Adrien.

"Mom," he cried,"get away from it. Run!"

But she didn't run, she never did. Emilie stood there, her wholesome smile beaming at him as a black viscous fluid overtook her.

As he ran, he narrowly escaped the amorphous glob. He hated the next part as well. He watched his father walking towards the stygian oblivion.

"Father, no!" he screamed.

"I'm sorry Adrien, Emilie needs me," his Father excused, walking into the darkness.

Tears flowed down his face as he saw the next sequence. A late teenage girl was next at the chopping block. He grabbed her spandex covered wrist, pleading her to run. The red and black dotted heroine smiled lugubriously.

"I'm sorry Kitty, but it's time to go," she said, letting the oily being consume her. He watched it grab her wrist, then crawl up her arm, and from there spread across her body.

Finally he let go, knowing this is where the dream ended. But this time it didn't.

"Adrien," Marinette smiled warmly.

"No," he gasped,"WAKE UP! WAKE UP NOW! PLEASE! NO! I DON'T LOVE HER! I DON'T Love h..."

His screams turned to bitter sobbing as he watched the dark abyss consume Marinette.

He just stared at it, daring it to devour him too. But it didn't. It never did.

Adrien awoke, sweat beading in his brow, and soaking the blanket he was using.

As he got up, he gently walked towards the shower. It was 3:00 am according to the clock.

He could still hear the words, "I don't love her" echo through his mind. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the lights. As he looked at the mirror he realised he was still mouthing the words, repeatedly.

As he lifted his hand to turn the shower on, he heard a blood curdling scream.

He ran back to his room to see Hawkmoth, returned in full glory, perched on his window sill. One hand extended out the window.

"How?!" Adrien exclaimed,"my Father had you killed".

"Now, now," the voice taunted,"I think deep down, you know the truth... Chat Noir".

Adrien looked up, a mix of shock and confusion in his face. But that didn't matter. He was going to take down his enemy.

"Now, I am here for the miraculous," Hawkmoth called.

"And what makes you think I would give it to you?" Adrien sneered.

"This". Hawkmoth revealed he was holding Marinette Dupain-Cheng by the neck. The girl was gasping for breath, fighting the hand seized around her neck.

As the man began to slide the ring of off his finger, Hawkmoth stopped him with a cruel smile.

"Now wait a moment," he said, throwing a knife at Adrien's feet.

The blade planted itself in the floorboards. Only a few centimetres above the hilt remained unburied.

"I want the hand with the ring".

"What?" Adrien asked in shock.

"You heard me. Cut off your hand, or the girl dies".

Adrien ripped the knife from the floor, and lifted the weapon over his head. With an exhale he brought the blade to his wrist.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" his alarm blared, this time truly waking him from his night terror.

Adrien really was covered in sweat. He could feel the liquid saturate his body, a reminder of the terror he had felt only moments before.

"Lila or Chloe?" Plagg asked, appearing from no where.

"What?"

"You kept shouting 'I don't love her' like it was urgent. So I was wondering, was it a dream about Chloe, or Lila?" The Kwami explained.

"Oh, uh... um...uh... Lila, of course," he lied.

Plagg's victorious face instantly went sour.

"Kid, you hesitated. Which means you lied to me. And you would only lie if you really didn't want to talk about it..." Plagg trailed off, "um, you know what, nevermind".

Adrien walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As steam filled the room, he found himself in a pensive state.

"Why was Marinette in the weird dream with the void monster?" He wondered," and why was there the inception dream within a dream about Marinette being in danger?"

He rubbed the shampoo into his golden locks, and washed it out. Then came the conditioner.

"And why was I so ready to cut my hand off for her?"

He turned the faucet off, and grabbed a towel.

As he dressed in his regular clothes, he checked his phone.

_From: Marinette _

**To: Adrien**

_I'll see you at school _(kissy emoji)

Adrien looked at the kissy emoji. "I don't love her. I can't love anyone," he reminded himself.

He realised that today would be a difficult day for him to avoid talking about his feelings. He had to find a way to avoid her.

**Um sorry, I can't make it to school today.**

Adrien went into his father's office and found what he was looking for. A spinning office chair.

He took a seat and began to twirl it as fast as he could, then hobbled to a bathroom and called Nathalie.

"Hey, I need to be excused from school. I'm feeling a little-- bleagh!" He spewed his stomach into the toilet.

"Still better than facing Marinette".

**_Wow. Ok. So apparently our beautiful little kitty had a nightmare. And it was bad enough that even seeing Marinette would fill him with worry, to the point thathe would rather fake being sick. Whew, I wonder how he'll get out of this predicament._**


	5. Day 5

**Sorry, y'all. I've been busy lately, and haven't written as much lately. And I still have upcoming finals... ugh.**

**Also, I've been coauthoring a cool new story- Into the Forest: The Miraculous and Misfortunate. It's on my good friend Littlemixup's account, I hope y'all check it out.**

Day 5

Marinette frowned as she looked at her phone, alone on the bench. In the past she would have been sitting next to Adrien, Alya, and Nino, but with Adrien still sick and the others gone, she was alone.

She checked her phone yet again, hoping he would finally wake up and text back.

To: My Sunshine

From: Marinette

Yesterday

17:23

Just got back from school, hope you're starting to feel better.

19:00

Hey Sunshine, I just finished my homework. If you want, I can come over and cuddle you better?

21:00

I guess you're already asleep. Hopefully you wake up feeling better.

Today

6:00

Hey Hot Stuff, did you sleep well? Or are you still sleeping.

8:00

Loser. I hope you know I could get in trouble texting in class. You know that our current teacher isn't as nice as Mme. Bustier or any of the other teachers were. Ok, but really, I'm starting to get worried. I haven't heard from you in over 24 hours.

(heart emoji) Marinette.

11:35

It's almost lunch. Please text back Adrien.

Marinette's stomach did somersaults as she waited for Adrien's reply. Worriedly she picked at her lunch. Finally as lunch came to an end, her phone vibrated.

From: Sunshine

To: Marinette

I'm ok

She resisted the urge to hurl her phone at the wall and shout some words that might earn her a new reputation. Instead she gathered her belongings and headed back to class.

"Who does Adrien think he is?" She mumbled angrily.

"Who do you think you are?!" Plagg shouted as Adrien hit send.

"You said I could send it," Adrien replied.

"Yeah, like you could send it if you want Marinette to beat the snot out of you!"

Adrien sighed,"Well it's better to break her heart now than to lead her on".

"NEWSFLASH! YOU'VE BEEN LEADING HER ON SINCE DAY ONE KID! SINCE DAY ONE!".

"I wish this was some cool magical alternative reality where soulmates could tell each other apart from everyone so I could prove to you and Marinette that I'm not meant for her. Or anybody".

"Hmm. Interesting idea Adrien," Plagg said shifting tones," let me just read ahead and see if this is a soulmate AU".

Plagg moved his paw as if flipping an imaginary page.

"Plagg, you know you can't break the fourth wall in real life, right?"

Plagg snickered and ignored him. "Nope, not a soulmate AU, but the ending of this story is going to be great".

Adrien stopped paying attention. The idea that his whole life was a work of fiction was 'utterly ridiculous' to borrow a phrase from his old friend Chloe.

Adrien looked at his phone again.

"Why did Marinette have to love me? Why couldn't she have been a good friend and stayed away from stupid ideas like falling for your friends?" He wondered. His thoughts drifted towards her and he began to wonder what she was doing.

Marinette's stare was nearly boring a hole into the whiteboard. The teacher and class were unaware, but Marinette could feel her gaze burning into the surface. It had to be, she could feel her rage being cast out of her eyes, and it felt like fire.

Eventually, after a long long long time, class ended.

Marinette rushed out the door, backpack in hand. She sprinted out the school entrance, and onto the path, and continued running past her house.

As she gasped and panted, she collected her thoughts and put on a fake smile. She rang the gateway bell, and smiled at the protruding camera of Agreste Manor.

"Hi, Nathalie, it's Adrien's girlfriend. I know Adrien is sick, but do you think I could see him?"

The camera stared back, and after a notably long wait, a speaker informed her, "I'm sorry Marinette, Adrien isn't taking guests today... but I'll tell him you stopped by".

"Thanks, Nathalie," Marinette offered numbly.

The two had gotten along quite well since Adrien and Marinette had become friends, and Nathalie seemed to greatly support in her endeavors to cure Adrien's longstanding heartache.

Marinette frowned, and turned away. The long pause had indicated Nathalie had asked Adrien if he was up to guests, and he had purposefully rejected Marinette's visit.

"Well, you might be able to say no to Marinette, but let's see you reject Ladybug," she said, assuming no citizen would reject an audience with one of Paris's famous heroes.

She snuck behind one of the walls around the mansion, and after checking for cameras, transformed.

"Spots on!" she called, and quickly tossed her newfound yoyo at the roof of Aggreste Manor.

"Hopefully this works," she thought.

A few moments prior...

As Adrien answered the intercom, Nathalie spoke.

"Adrien, I know you aren't feeling well, but Marinette is here to see you".

"Tell her I'm not feeling well," he moaned exaggeratedly.

"Are you sure? I'm certain that even a quick visit would mean a lot to her".

"Yeah, I don't feel good at all".

"If you would like I can link the house intercom with the doorbell intercom? You would be able to talk to her quickly before she--"

"It's fine," he said, cutting her off.

"Plagg... what does she see in me?!" Adrien moaned, flopping onto his bed.

"I have no clue," the Kwami responded,"honestly I'm just here for the cheese".

Adrien threw a pillow at him, but Plagg casually dodged it.

They chatted for a minute, until Plagg froze.

"Adrien, I need to go".

A moment later there was a tap on the window. Outside on the ledge stood Ladybug.

Quickly, Adrien opened the window, and bid the heroine welcome.

"Ladybug, what brings you here?"

She smiled sadly. "My friend, Marinette asked me to check up on you".

"Oh".

"Oh?" She responded.

"Yeah, I mean nothing against Mari... she just... I dunno, she wants us to fall in love, but that won't happen, no matter how much we both want it to," he explained.

"Why is that?!" Ladybug demanded.

"Um... well...another girl broke my heart. Like badly, and I know I'll never love again... n-no mat-matter how much I w-w-want to l-love Marinette" he choked, tears streaming down his face.

Ladybug wrapped him in a hug, just like she had two years before, when she had broken Chat's heart.

She knew the feeling was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Adrien," she soothed,"I know Marinette has your feelings in mind. Please trust her, I promise she wants to make you happy more than anything. But to do that, you need to stop avoiding her. Deal?"

"Deal," Adrien sniffled.

He looked at her, and let the last bit of his heart break. The secret hope that he and Ladybug would one day be together. Slowly he let it go and the tears once more streamed down his eyes.

"Ladybug, could you hold me just a little bit longer?"

"Sure, Adrien".

**Oooh. I wonder what this means?**


	6. Day 6

**Hey y'all. Hopefully I'll be writing a bit more soon. For now, life is busy. Earlier, I submitted a final project (worth a good chunk of my grade) like 20 seconds before it was due. That was an "exciting" experie****nce. Hopefully the semester can end soon.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MLB, but if Chat did, he would probably give it to me, cuz we're pals... right Chat? ... right?**

**Day 6**

Adrien typed on his phone again.

**From: Adrien**

_To: Mari_

**I probably deserve this. I really am sorry, Mari. Please believe me.**

Marinette looked at her phone. It was only 6 in the morning, and Adrien had just sent his fourth apology text. She set her phone down.

"I don't understand Marinette," Tikki whined,"why did you recklessly go to Adrien's home as Ladybug to get him to give you a chance, only to ignore all of his apology texts?:

Marinette sighed as she prepared for the day. "Tikki, I want him to apologize because HE feels bad, not because Ladybug guilt tripped him. And texting apologies is not sincere. I just want him to really love me".

Marinette brushed her hair and placed her hair into a neat pair of pigtails. The Kwami watched, pondering Marinette's words.

Tikki nodded, though she was fairly certain that her holder's logic was laced with fallacies.

"Anyways, Adrien gave me a the silent treatment, so maybe he deserves a taste of his own medicine," Marinette added.

"There it is, teenage vindictiveness," the Kwami muttered. Marinette's phone buzzed as she spoke, conveniently covering Tikki's trenchant remark.

**Marinette, I know I don't deserve an answer, but will you please let me know if you're coming to school today? Please, this is really important to me.**

Marinette frowned as she looked in the bathroom mirror. Why did Adrien care if she was going to school. She relented and began to type.

_I'll be there._

She gazed at her handywork. A simple, concise, emotionless message, quite similar to the one Adrien had sent. She now sent her own heartless text.

"Ok, Tikki time for school," the girl groaned, taking one last glance at her reflection.

As she approached the school, everything was normal. She bounded up the concrete steps and strolled into the entryway.

It was then that everything changed. What felt like a million pairs of eyes drifted to her, and she heard whispering, though it was not distinct enough for her to understand it.

She made her way through the hallway, noting the strange sensation of having everyine staring at her. What's more, whenever she reached a crowded cluster of her peers, they would divide in half instead of making her walk around them.

She looked down to make sure she had remembered to wear pants. She had. Her phone was quickly out, and her front camera proved to her that her hair was still cute and her makeup was un-smudged. She shrugged and moved on to her classroom, hoping that whatver people were staring at wasn't too embarrassing.

As Marinette neared her class, she glanced at a 3 meter long banner accompanied by at least a hundred balloons.

"It must be someone's birthday," she thought. It was common for students to organize little celebrations for their friends outside of classrooms before school started. Marinette began to wonder whose birthday it could be as she realized it was hung over her classroom.

Straining to read it, she finally saw the words, at the same time noticing the well dressed blond beneath it.

"To: Marinette Dupain-Cheng (The World's Best Girlfriend) I'm sorry, please forgive me. -Adrien

Below the name stood the beautiful model who embodied it, a bouquet of red roses in hand.

"A-a-adrien," she mumbled.

Adrien showed off a gentle smile as she stumbled over his name.

she found herself lost in his smile, then quickly realized she was in paradise as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Mari, I was so so so stupid. I might not feel as strongly about you as you do about me, but I know that you are the best thing that has ever happened in my life," the model professed.

Marinette would have melted into a puddle right there and then, had it not been for the firm muscular arms holding her in place.

"O-o-oh?" She managed to sqeak, cursing the stutter that kept coming back.

"Yeah," he reassured,"you mean more to me than my career, friends, school, fencing, even Ladyb-- um ladies... you know, like all the other girls in the world".

Adrien felt his face redden as he nearly gave up his secret. Luckily Marinette seemed too distracted by the unfettered affection to notice the faux PAW.

As if she sensed the perfect opportunity to ruin the moment, Chloe perambulated through the corridor, a biliously nauseating smile spread accross her countenance.

"Aaaaaaaaadrikins," she trilled charmingly," it's ok for you to stop this". She gestured to the decorations and Marinette.

"What do you mena Chlo?" Adrien queried,as he slowly let go of Marinette. Confusion was evidently emanating from him as he spoke.

"I mean you can stop this charity work. You don't need to make the baker girl feel special just because you are a nice person".

Adrien smiled broadly. "Chloe, I'm glad you noticed that there is some major charity work going on here..."

Everyone in the hallway was frozen, their eyes glued to Adrien. "Where in the world is he going with this?" The group wondered in unison.

"But, I think you have it messed up. Marinette is the one who's showing me how great she is. She was just about to forgive me for being a lousy boyfriend, weren't you Princess?" Adrien concluded.

It was only then that he realized he had made his second slip up of the day.

"You know, because you are like royalty to me," he saved.

Marinette seemed too shocked by the whole situation to register anything. As she replayed Adrien's question in her head, she smiled.

"Yes. In fact, you were the lousiest boyfriend ever, and I'm only barely going to forgive you. By the way, I love 'Princess'".

Adrien smiled. He had somehow stumbled into a means to allow his civilian persona use of the affectionate nickname.

"Well, in that case, thank you, Princess. You shan't regret it," he offered gallantly, following the words up with a kiss on the cheek.

Wirh the final act, Chloe shrieked and stormed off, Sabrina in tow.

"This isn't love," Adrien thought to himself,"but whatever it is, it's the next best thing".

**Poor little Kitty. He really needs someone to sit him down and explain what love is.**


	7. Day 7

Hope y'all enjoy.

Disclaimer: My chances of owning MLB are about as high as Lila's chances of getting Adrien to fall for her. Darn. 0%.

**Day 7**

Adrien felt uneasy as he played Ultimate Mecha Strike. He had chosen the original edition as the nostalgia usually relaxed him, bringing him back to a simpler time.

He tried to imagine the carefree life if a child. His Maman letting him win and Chloe yelling that he had cheated. But today it wasn't effective.

"Plagg," he said, unleashing a large blast,"I'm still worried about Marinette. My father told me that only a coward proposes in front of a large crowd, because it puts ..."

Adrien dodged a melee attack.

"Because it puts the girl in an awkard position if she wants to say no... Maybe the same principle applies here".

Plagg gulped a slice of his odiferous cheese before he spoke.

"So you think 'what's her face' didn't forgive you?" He grumbled.

Adrien dared to look away from the screen to shoot him a dirty look. "You know Marinette is special to me, why do you insist of not saying her name? And it's not that she didn't forgive me, but rather that I didn't give her the chance to".

The Kwami ignored the first question and seemed to grumble in indifference. Finally he spoke.

"You know, kid, I know you aren't good with social stuff, because of your dad and all, but here's a revolutionary idea: talk to her".

"Plagg, even I know that's setting myself up. Girls don't want to talk to their boyfriend about problems, they want the boy to read their mind and fix it".

"What are you talking about, Adrien? Girls talk about their problems all the time. I bet Marinette was talking to Alya about you all the time when she still lived here," the Kwami countered.

"And I bet I know who else she would talk to," Adrien said smugly,"that gives me an idea".

Plagg began to speak when Adrien shot up, of off the couch, completely forgetting tha game.

"Adrien, wait--".

"Plagg, claws out!"

The hero sailed though the streets, opting for travel by baton, and looking at the beautiful landscape before him.

As he approached the Université Paris Descartes, he bowed his head in reverent silence.

"This trying time is only going to last you a moment," he whispered to the humbled cathedral in front if him.

Soon enough he was back to his goal.

Adrien quickly reached the preselected balcony and rolled across the deck, quickly knocking on the door.

He waited a moment, then knocked again.

Dismayed by the lack of an answer, he grabbed his baton and ran towards the railing, only to be tackled backwards by an unseen force.

"You aren't getting away from me that easily, Chaton," the sweet voice said.

He turned himself to face her.

"Marinette," he breathed,"I'm glad I caught you... or rather you caught me". He looked at her arms wrapped around him.

"Oh, sorry, Chat," she explained, releasing him,"I didn't think I heard anything. I got pretty used to your weekly visits, and then you just stopped when Ladybug broke your heart. It took a while for me to realise what I was hearing, and I wasn't going to let you get away".

He stared at her quizzically.

"No one knows Ladybug broke my heart, not even the Ladyblog has a hint".

Marinette bit her lip. "Time to think fast," she told herself.

"Yeah, well... Remember, LB and I go way back. We were friends when Evilistrator was running around... and it's been a few years since then".

The leather clad hero nodded.

"So it has. Anyways, Ladybug is wonderful, but I wanted to ask you about my other friend, Adrien Agreste".

Marinette's eyes lit up at the sound of the name, the same way a small child's eyes twinkle at the word "Christmas" or "Birthday". Her heart stopped like the heart of a young woman, seeing her husband for the first time since returning home from a dreadful war. Her smile was that of an old woman, greeting a new grandchild for the first time.

Chat noticed it all, and wished he could love her like that.

"You really love him don't you?"

Marinette nodded. "He is my best friend and my world, I have never loved someone as much as I love him".

Chat stared down at the ground.

"That's... uh... good. Deep down he's a good kid, just a little lost, with the heartbreak stuff and all" he responded.

Marinette knelt down to meet his warm green eyes. As she gazed into them, she felt her heart melt.

Years ago she had had come to a conclusion. Pick either her quirky partner or her sunshine boy; at the time it had been easy, but now Marinette found herself questioning her decision.

"If I could go back, I don't know if I could pick Adrien over Chat," she realized,"of course now I'm committed to Adrien, and he needs someone to love him unconditionally. I can't abandon him no matter what my heart says about Chat".

She prayed that Chat would find the girl he deserved.

"Are we still talking about Adrien, or another moppy hearbroken boy?" She teased softly.

"Maybe I was thinking a little bit about Chat right now," he admitted, hoping that it wasn't technically a lie.

"Anyhow, I need to ask you something Marinette. Adrien put on a big show for you, but he's worried. I guess he feels like he might have forced himself back into your good graces".

Marinette nodded sagely. "He kinda did. And honestly it means a lot that he recognized that he hurt me and tried to fix it. But you can tell him that he'll get bonus points if he apologizes to me in private".

Chat was now smiling, as if the news somehow helped him purrsonally (which of course it did).

"Thank you Purrrincess," he said turning back towards the Parisian scene.

"Wait!" Marinette cried into the evening sky, causing Chat to nearly lose his balance as he stood on the balcony's steep precipice.

"Yes Purrrincess?"

"Chaton. You will find love again. Your purrfect girl is out there".

"I think I'm starting to believe that could be true," he whispered, as he leapt into the night.


	8. Day 8 part 1

my last finals are coming up tomorrow, and then I'm done for the semester. Wish me luck.

By the way, day 8 was a long enough chapter that I split it in half.

Special thanks to mayuralover for very kindly letting me know that I was misusing punctuation in my quotations. I'm a bit embarrassed and I hope you can all forgive me for my repetitive mistake. I'll try better from here on (since I'm not seeking to publish any fan fiction, I'm not going to edit the previous 80k words I've made this mistake on).

disclaimer- Ok hear me out y'all. If we pool our money, do you think we could buy MLB from Zagtoons?

**Day**** 8 Part 1**

Adrien arose with purpose. The sun greeted him as it poked through his window. His massive bedroom seemed to cry good morning, from the flatscreen to the miniature library. Even the alarm clock seemed more friendly.

Wait... no, the alarm clock was still annoying. After all today might be a great day, but it wasn't a day of miracles... or was it?

"Plagg! Do you know what today is?"

The Kwami continued his slumber, completely unperturbed by Adrien's passionate outburst.

Adrien grinned at the sleeping Kwami, and opened a brand new wheel of the earthy, creamy, smelly cheese that Plagg so feverishly desired.

The cat's eyes shot open.

"Do I smell camembert?" He questioned.

"Yep. However this is a special type of camembert. Only optimistic individuals who are excited for my meeting with Marinette can eat it," Adrien grinned.

Plagg sighed before plastering an artificial smile on his face.

"Oh golly goodness," he shrieked happily,"I am the happiest cat in all of France. I just absolutely positively can't wait for Adrien and Marinette to finally become the most perfect couple in the whole wide world and have a few litters of the most adorable kittens, and a perfect life".

"Never do that again," Adrien said, tossing him the cheese and regretting his request.

Pessimist Plagg was so much better than Preppy Plagg.

As he took an anxious breath of air, Adrien heard an almost unfamiliar ring on his phone. Almost unfamiliar.

"Where have I heard that before... Nino!"

he remembered.

"Hey man," he said answering his phone,"you never call, what's up?"

Even though his friend was a world away, Adrien could imagine his smile.

"I got my first REAL paycheck today, so I can finally afford the long distance calls," he said.

"First paycheck? They haven't been paying you for your music or going on tour?" Adrien asked incredulously.

"No, first REAL paycheck. Like this one is over a million Euros dude!"

Adrien gasped. He knew Nino was becoming popular, but artists only received a small fraction of what their music made. It was incredible to think that he had sold enough albums to become a millionaire.

"Congrats Nino! You deserve it."

"Thanks dude. Anyhow, how are you and Mari?"

"We're pretty good. I was going to apologize for being dumb... I got her a present she'll hopefully like."

"What did you get?"

"Wouldn't you like to know Nino?" Adrien teased,"I'll tell you after I give it to her. I want her to be the first one to know what it is."

Nino seemed to understand. "Ok, but you better call me soon and let me know. And mind the time difference, I don't want to know you got her some cute lingerie at 3 in the morning."

Adrien was glad Nino couldn't see his blush over the phone.

"It's not lingerie," he shouted anxiously.

"Whatever, Dude. Catch you later."

"Bye, Nino."

Plagg looked at him.

"You know you could have used all the money for the gift to buy camembert?"

"Plagg, Camembert is gross."

"You wanna know what's gross? Cheddar and fruit!"

"Plagg, you need to refine your taste," Adrien said, grabbing his favorite scarf to signify an end to the conversation.

He let the creature crawl into his shirt pocket and marched out the door, a large bag in his hand.

Adrien walked to the bakery and opened the door, his hands trembling.

At the front counter was Sabine Cheng, smiling kindly.

"Hello Mme. Cheng, is Marinette here?" he asked, figiting in place.

"Adrien, you can call me Mam..." she began and then hesitated.

Adrien's cheeks flushed as he realised what she was about to say.

She thought better of it and continued, "Sabine. You can call me Sabine. And Marinette is upstairs, though her shift is about to begin. You can head upstairs real quick if you like. And if that bag is fabric for her she will most definitely forgive you for..."

She trailed off, then smiled.

"Marinette is very lucky to have you".

Adrien stared in utter panic. Did everyone know about his idiotic mistake?

He quickly shook his head and retreated up the stairs, thinking he was now clear, but again wrong.

"Hello Adrien," Tom Dupain bellowed. Well, perhaps it wasn't quite a bellow. But Adrien was nervous enough that it felt like it.

"Hi M. Dupain. I was just going to see Marinette before her shift at the bakery".

"I see," the older man said suspiciously,"well just remember, she deserves only the best. You know, I think even Chat Noir has a crush on her."

"Yes, sir," Adrien said stiffly. He was surprised when Tom laughed and patted him on the back, then pointed him to Marinette's room.

**_oooh! where is this going? Find out in a week... or you could just flip the page over now..._**


	9. Day 8 part 2

yup... part 2 of the same day, as promised.

disclaimer- see chapter 8 part 1. Together we can rule the galaxy... or the universe... the quantic universe that is.

**Day 8 part 2**

As he headed up to her room, he knocked on the door.

"Yeah Papa," she shouted through the door, "I'm getting ready for work."

"Actually I'm someone else," Adrien replied.

The door shot open almost instantly, and Marinette wrapped her arms around him.

"This just feels right," he thought as he returned the embrace.

"What brings you here, Adrien?" she asked innocently, as she released him from her grasp.

He smiled warmly. "A uh... mutual friend helped confirm a theory of mine. Now I'm here to right a wrong."

She used her hand, gesturing for him to continue.

"Marinette I really shouldn't have avoided you. I panicked, and made a poor decision. And when I apologized, I had good intentions, but I basically forced you to forgive me or look like a bad guy in front of the whole school. So now I'm asking, will you forgive me?"

Her smile grew wide as she spoke, "you idiot, of course I'll forgive you. The fact that you knew you made a mistake and apologized just proves how great you are, and how dumb it would be for me to hold it against you. Adrien... I love you."

To her surprise he smiled. "Marinette, you really are the best girlfriend in th world," he said, grabbing her hands with his free hand.

Only now did she realise he was holding a large bag.

"W-what's the bag for?"

"Oh, it was a peace offering, but since you already forgave me, I won't need it," he said smugly.

"No. I want it. I unforgive you," she squealed, grabbing for the bag.

Adrien held it above his head, just barely out of Marinette's reach.

"Do you promise to accept the gift no matter what? And reforgive me?" He said, hoping she fell for his trap.

"Yes. I don't care how lame it is. Now give it to me."

He lowered the bag and she pulled out the fabric.

"Adrien, this is really nice wool," she said feeling the cloth. Suddenly she stopped.

"Adrien, No."

"Marinette, Yes."

"You didn't."

"I did."

"This isn't vicuna wool."

"It is."

"Mon amour, this is nearly 10 yards. This would have costed over twenty thousand Euros.

"It did," he smiled.

"Adrien, mon trésor, I love it, but I can't accept such an expensive gift," she said sadly, holding the bag out to him.

His smile turn to a Chat Noir grin.

"You already did. You promised that you would accept it no matter what."

"No fair," she groaned,"I thought you meant it would be a silly present or something."

"But you still agreed," he countered, grabbing the bag and setting it on her sewing table.

"Now let's get you to work, before I get in trouble for distracting you," he said, gently taking her hand and leading her downstairs.

"Besides, it's the best wool in the world. One of the warmest, softest, and rarest. And My Marinette deserves nothing but the best."

Her heart leapt at the phrase 'My Marinette'. Quickly after that, Marinette's mind began to race as she thought of all the things she could do with her gift.

"That might be enough wool to make half a dozen scarves!" She cried gleefully.

"Yeah," Adrien grinned, ready to test her,"you should talk to my dad about scarf making. He does an amazing job. Look at this scarf he made me!"

Adrien held up the birthday scarf from so many years ago; its sky blue shade seemed to light up the hallway they were walking in.

"Oh, um yeah... very nice," she said, admiring the workmanship.

Adrien stopped and looked her in the eyes.

"My favourite part is that when you turn it upside down, the maker's mark spells out 'Marinette'. Just like your hat did... Come to think of it, don't a lot of your designs use that mark?"

He gave her a knowing smile. And Marinette realised he must have known the truth for some time.

"I'm sorry Adrien. It was supposed to be from me, but things must have gotten mixed up, and you were so happy it was from your dad, and I.. I didn't want to disappoint you..." she mumbled.

Adrien grabbed her in a deep embrace.

He pulled her close and whispered, "Marinette you will never disappoint me."

After a tender moment, he pulled back and they made their way to the bakery counter, where Tom and Sabine stood waiting.

"Wow, Marinette, you're a minute early. Maybe Adrien is a good influence on you," Tom teased.

Sabine laughed. "Marinette, we're going out tonight, would you mind watching the shop while we're gone?"

Marinette barely had time to nodd before they left.

Adrien stared at the board.

"Are you gonna buy something or not," she teased Adrien,"you're holding up the line."

"Oh sorr--" he turned around to see that no one else was in the bakery.

"Hey! Anyways. I'll have the..." he scanned the list of coffee beverages, until he settled on the last one, which also happened to be the most expensive," I'll take the EP special."

Her tone turned serious. "Adrien are you sure that's--"

"Yeah. I can handle it," he said.

Marinette walked into the back room and returned, holding a massive mug.

"What's that?!" He cried, taking the 3kg ceramic mug.

"The EP special. Two litres of black coffee, extra hot".

"Who would order something like this?" He asked in amazement.

"Papa started it as a joke for a family friend of ours, but enough people liked it that we kept it. Usually a group of people will ask for extra cups and split it."

Adrien took a small sip. The coffee was definitely up to par. He talked with his girlfriend for a bit longer, slowly sipping from the enormous cup he had ordered. He kept an eye on the front door, but was surprised to see no one was entering.

After he had had maybe 3 cups worth of coffee (which was only about a quarter of the mug), he set the leviathan down.

He could feel everything differently. Maybe it was just the coffee, but his heart felt like it was on fire and he felt an impulse to do something rash.

He checked the door again, then spoke.

"I have one more gift for you," he announced.

"Oh. Ok," Marinette responded, also glancing at the door,"what is it?"

Adrien walked behind the counter and swept his girlfriend off her feet, and planted a passionate kiss on her lips.

"That."

**_Ahhhhhhh! the first "real" kiss in 30 days... sounds like it took a little over a week to finish this story. It's not like more drama is coming up... cuz we've seen the last of Chloe, right? and Adrien is done making silly mistakes? and we aren't expecting Luka here... right? wait, why am I asking you guys... I'm the author. I guess we'll find out how this fiction goes._**


	10. Day 9

Ready for Drama?

disclaimer-

Adrien walked through the park and bathed in the golden sunlight. Soon he found a spot that seemed warmer than the rest; it was at the edge of an ornate white limestone fountain, which was situated in the centerof the park. He sat down on the light-filled ground area and leaned against the decoration.

**Day 9**

"Wow, I really am a cat," he thought, soaking up the sun.

Adrien looked up at the celestial sphere above. It was surrounded by a soft blue sky. "If only the world could be as sweet and simple as the sun," he muttered.

Hs thought about his trip to the bakery. Everything had been absolutely pawsitively purrfect. Until that blasted impetuous act. That moment of brazen impudence. The second of rash action. The impulsive kiss.

He forced himself to relax. Everything was good. It was a perfect afternoon. He just needed to enjoy the beauty of nature mingled with the Parisian skyline.

A ring sounded on his phone, which he promptly answered.

"Hey Agreste, were you gonna call me?"

"Oh, right! I forgot, I'm sorry Nino," Adrien apologized, though his voice betrayed that his mind was elsewhere.

"It's ok. Alya told me that you got Mari some really expensive sewing stuff or something baboona wool or something?"

"Vicuna wool. And yeah, I thought Marinette would like it."

"Dude, she was raving to Alya about how sweet and thoughtful it was!"

Adrien smiled.

"So you guys are talking again?"

"Yeah, dude. We talked it over and decided that since we would both be coming home soon we could try things again."

"Nice!" Adrien said happily,"wait, when are you two coming back?"

"I'm done with my tour in a couple months and Alya should be looking for a job in two months. But we are gonna talk about your little make out session at the bakery," Nino said confidently.

"Um... what? I... I dunno... I have n-no clue what you're talking about."

"Oh really? Apparently Mari said it was the highlight of her entire life."

Adrien let out a disappointed sigh at the comment.

"What's wrong?!" Nino panicked,"is she a bad kisser? She can't be worse than Chloe"

Adrien's skin crawled as Nino referenced a time a couple years back when Chloe had ambushed her friend with a very passionate kiss... a very wet, slobbery, poorly initiated, passionate kiss.

"No, Mari easily kisses a hundred trillion times better than Chloe... It's just..."

"JUST WHAT?!" Nino demanded, departing from his usual tranquil self.

"Well I was on a crazy amount of caffeine and I had a realisation. I could kiss her and look for fireworks. If I felt electricity or fireworks or whatever I would know I was in love, and if not, then I wasn't..."

"Dude, that's not how love works," Nino informed.

"It's not?"

"Nope. If you could just kiss anyone anytime you weren't sure, everyone would start out a blind date, or any first date with a kiss. Yes, you can feel something magical when you kiss someone you love, but you kinda have to be open to the idea that you already love them, not turn kissing into a science experiment... by the way dude, if it was an experiment it would have sucked. You had no control, you didn't account for confounding variables, you only tested the experiment once, in a very nonsterile environment. Yeah, Adrien love is about love, not facts or logic."

Adrien was silent, lost in thought. So lost that he didn't notice a redhead sneak up behind him, camera in hand.

"Ok, let's try this,"Nino began,"where do you see yourself in five years?"

Adrien snapped back to attention.

"Honestly? In five years I see myself married... to Chloe. No kids. She's a stay hat home wife who throws the most infamous house parties. I'm still modeling, and have become the posterboy for all things 'Gabriel' brand."

Nino laughed jovially,"hahaha you've found your sense of humor again, haven't you?"

Adrien frowned in response.

"Nino, I'm being serious."

The hidden redhead put down her camera and squealed, running off to inform her friend of the supposed good news. Adrien hadn't noticed, he was focused on his conversation.

"Are you kidding me?! That's your dream? To marry Chloe?"

Adrien shook his head, though Nino couldn't see it.

"No, that's just me making the best of a crappy situation. Marinette needs someone who can love her, like truly love her. If I don't, then I won't ruin her life. On the other hand, while Chloe is a good person deep down... like deep deep down, she is shallow. I bet I could spend 50 plus years with her and never let her know that I dont truly love her. Plus let's be honest, she's too much of a kid herself to ever be mature enough to want her own family. As for being stuck modeling for Father, that's just inevitable. It's not my dream. This is just how I see myself coping with the nightmare I call life in five years."

Now it was Nino's turn to sit in silence.

Finally he spoke.

"So... Marinette is so important to you that you would sacrifice your life of hapiness just to try and help her have it in hers? You make out with her in public? And you buy her expensive and thoughtful gifts just to apologize for mistakes? Not to mention that I've heard you regularly tease her, spend every day with her, have been holding hands for the past year or so, and you talk about her with me all the time. Are you are freakin' telling me she's 'just a friend'?"

And like that suddenly it all clicked. Everything Nino had said in this phone call made perfect sense. The pieces fit together.

"Maybe Marinette is lovable. Maybe she could be my everything."


	11. Day 10

**_So... this chapter was hard to write... um... yeah. don't hate me._**

**_disclaimer- um... this chapter is sad... also I don't own mlb._**

**Day 10**

"Play it again!" Chloe squealed in delight.

The blond appeared on the camera screen again, speaking into his phone as he relaxed by the fountain.

"Honestly? In five years I see myself married... to Chloe. No kids. She's a stay at home wife who throws the most infamous house parties. I'm still modeling, and have become the posterboy for all things 'Gabriel' brand."

"This is my favorite part," she cried to Sabrina.

"Nino, I'm being serious."

Chloe relished the words. She seemed to savour every syllable. The girl dwelt on every vowel and consonant, smiling at the beautiful words they made.

"Did you hear that, Sabrina!? He is serious. He must really love me! Dupain-Cheng has NOTHING on me. Her stunt trying to claim Adrikins is nothing. She is nothing. He loves meeeee!" Chloe laughed gleefully.

She paused in thought.

"And my Adrikins thinks I'll have the best house parties, which of course I will. And he doesn't want any stinky babies either! Isn't that great Sabrina? I thought for sure I would need to explain to him why we aren't having babies, but he gets it. You can tell by the little frown (she poked the miniature screen) that he knows babies are gross."

"Play it again?" Sabrina offered.

Chloe shook her head.

Meanwhile Adrien grinned at Plagg.

"Her!"

"Yeah, what about her?" Plagg asked.

Adrien grinned even wider. "It's Marinette. Plagg, it's her. It's always been her. I feel it. Everything is perfect! I'm going to go to the store and buy her some flowers and chocolates and I'm going to tell her everything. What I love about her hair. What I love about her eyes, and her smile and laugh, and her heart, and her friendship, and every beautiful part of her body and soul."

"Her? Finally? You actually realised that the designer chick trumps Ladybug?" the Kwami asked while gulping a chunk of cheese.

Adrien looked at Plagg. Of course they both knew the significance of what Adrien had said. He seemed to hold that word on a pedestal, like a long forgotten friend who he had recently been rejoined with. Adrien couldn't help but savor the beautiful sound. The perfect idea. It wasn't just a mix of endorphins, or a chemical reaction, it was the reason hearts beat. The cause for the universe's existence. He was going to take a chance because of the one word.

"Love," he thought.

Nothing can go wrong," he said confidently.

Plagg sighed. If there was anything millennia and eons had taught him, it was that something could always go wrong.

"I wonder what Mari's doing right now?" Adrien thought.

Marinette doodled in her journal. She had a rule about only writing in diaries and drawing in sketchbooks, but this was a special doodle. Plus, no one else was here.

"I thought you didn't draw designs in your diary?" a small voice cooed over her shoulder.

"Ahhh!" Marinette screeched, hurling the book at the wall.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Tikki apologized sweetly.

"It's ok Tikki, you just startled me."

The Kwami thought about the glimpse she had seen. A flowing dress with a beautiful lace trim, and embroidered little roses in the fabric. Tikki thought harder, there was something she was forgetting.

"That's right, Marinette made herself the model. She doesn't usually do that. And she had a veil..." Tikki stopped mid-thought.

"Wait, Marinette was that you wearing a wedding dress?"

As the girl bent down to retrieve her book, she blushed.

"Don't worry about it Tikki, it's jus--"

"Marinette, one of your friends is here to see you!" Sabine called up the stairs.

Tikki flew to the bed, laying among the sheets, hidden to the casual observer, and appearing as a stuffed animal to the more detailed onlooker.

Marinette ran to the door and prepared to place a big kiss on Adrien.

The affections soon turned to disgust as Chloe entered through the doorway.

"Chloe, what are you doing here? Looking for my diary?" Marinette snapped, referring to a time years ago when Chloe had used Sabrina to do just that.

"Actually, I'm at this dingy little bakery-house to show you something," she grinned, holding out her phone. It was the most recent of Chloe's devices to upload Sabrina's video.

Marinette snatched it and hit play. She initially smiled as her Adrien spoke on the phone. That park had so many memories.

Then it soured.

"This must be some kind of joke," she muttered. This only made the silent Chloe smile even more hideously.

"Nino, I'm being serious."

The last phrase hit her like a sack of bricks. He wasn't kidding. Adrien loved Chloe. He had always loved her. Somehow he must have ended up with Marinette, his "friend" instead of her, but he told Nino. He told Nino. He told Nino that he was serious.

"He loves me!" Chloe squealed.

"He loves you!" Marinette sobbed in unison.

The blonde quickly grabbed her phone from Marinette's trembling hands and walked away.

"Thanks Mme. Cheng," she heard Adrien's Lover sing to her mother as the bakery door closed downstairs.

"It can't be true. Adrien would never do that to me... right Tikki?" Marinette begged.

Only moments later did she hear the downstairs door open again. And unfortunately for her, it was too quick for Tikki to respond.

She listened as a pair of feet scurried up the stairs.

"Please no," she whispered, tears already streaking down her face.

She heard her door open, and Adrien stood in front of her with flowers and chocolates. The ultimate "I'm sorry" gifts. He was going to break up with her.

He handed her the chocolate and began his speech.

"Marinette, I need to tell you something important. I lov--"

"Get out!" She shouted, throwing the chocolates at him. She was so upset she didn't even want to hear his stupid apology.

Adrien's anxious smile faded to confusion.

"What?"

"I said, get out!"

"But Mari, I wanted to tell you that I lo--"

"GET OUT! OUT OF MY ROOM! OUT OF MY HOUSE! GET OUT OF MY LIFE!" she screamed, her voice cracking from the sudden yelling,"I HATE YOU! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Adrien dropped the roses, shock filling his countenance.

"Oh," was all he could muster as he stumbled out of the room.

A momemt later both teens found themselves sobbing, lost and alone.

Sometimes love hurts.

**_ouch... ok..._****_Also poor Adrien! In 24 hours he went from "I have known for years I would never find love" to "I love her" to heartbroken again..._**

**_I think this might be the saddest chapter I've ever written... maybe it's the absolute tragedy, or maybe it's because it's 5 am... I hope y'all can forgive me on this chapter._**


	12. Day 11

Sorry y'all. I have been a bit slow getting this chapter. It took me two weeks to get past the first 40 words.

Spoiler Alert- If you haven't seen Casablanca... first of all, come on it's been out for over 75 years! Second of all, this chapter totally spoils the ending as Marinette commiserates with a character.

I own as much of Casablanca as I do MLB

**Day 11**

Adrien stared at Plagg.

"What did I do? What could I have done? How can I get Mari to forgive me?" Tears began to flow again as the boy worried over possible mistakes he could have made.

His cat-kwami stared back, wearing his seldomly utilized look of sympathy.

"I don't know. Honestly Adrien, we haven't done a lot in the last day or so. In fact, we spent most of yesterday alone."

"Right?" He asked. A look of confusion all too suddenly shifted to one of resolution.

"Plagg-"

"Please don't do what I think you're about to-"

"Claws out!"

Plagg all too quickly found himself encapsulated in the ring Adrien -or rather Chat Noir- proudly wore.

The leather clad hero bounded to the tower of his princess, ready to battle any dragons or beasts that may lay in wait.

He flew from street to rooftop to flagpole, making his way across the ancient city. He landed at a couple tactically planned shops before ultimately landing across from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery rooftop.

He smelled the brownies before he saw them. Marinette stood on the balcony with a blue haired boy he wasn't sure he recognized, each of them munching on a deliciously chocolate goodie.

A frown covered his face as he listened to them talk and sniffle and laugh. Finally the boy, who Chat was fairly sure was Luka, gave her a hug, and left Marinette marooned on an island of loneliness. Chat watched her, counting the moments since Luka left.

After about five minutes, he leapt onto the railing, a large black blanket tied to him like a cape, a carton of ice cream in one hand, and a DVD and two spoons in the other.

"Never fear, Super Chat is here!" He smiled.

Marinette smiled subconsciously, looking at her heroic friend.

"What are you doing here Chat? I haven't seen you in years, and now you've come by twice in one week!"

Chat looked down a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry I stopped visiting Purrrincess. I had a bit of a purrsonal matter, and I may have been a bit emotionally unavailable. But I've been watching over for you almost every day for the last two years. I know about your awards in school, the red dress you're working on, the new pastry you invented for the bakery, and how your parents entrusted you to take charge of it for a whole week last week. I also know a certain Parisian prettyboy messed up big and hurt you. And boy is he sorry."

Marinette looked at Chat. "Oh no. You didn't hurt him, did you?"

Chat felt relieved by the fear in her voice. "No, no, no. It didn't get physical. We talked, and when we finished that conversation, I let him know whatever he did, he was absolutely boneheaded. And I came here to offer you snuggles, a movie, and ice cream."

Marinette smiled, wiping away tears.

"Wow. So my kitty is my guardian angel?"

"Yup."

Marinette ran downstairs to grab her laptop, came up to see that Chat had turned his giant black cape into a microfiber fortress. He beckoned her in, and she obliged.

As she crawled in, Chat handed her the DVD, "Casablanca".

"Oh, I love this one. And it's probably a good fit. The main character gets over a long standing crush on their former love. I could use some pointers from Humphrey Bogart. I bet Rick has some good advice for me."

Chat groaned internally. He had thought it was a cute story about how love involves sacrifice. And hoped it would soften the most amazing girl in the world's opinion of his alter ego.

As the video began to play, Chat naturally snuggled up to Marinette, and the two began to dig into the two litre tub of ice cream. Neither seemed to pay attention to the ice cream, as they absentmindedly munched away, holding each other tight. By the end, Mr Blaine was saying farewell to Ilsa and Mr Laslo, and Marinette was sobbing next to a cat, a laptop, and an empty tub of ice cream.

"I l-love hi-him," she sobbed.

"I know you did Purrincess. I know. What happened?"

She spilled her life's tale. How at the tender age of 13 she had fallen for a supermodel, how he had never seen her affections. She told Chat about a scarf she had made for his birthday, one he treasured up to this day, and how he thought his father had made it. Marinette dared to tell Chat every crevice of her feelings, telling him how she had broken hearts to continue to pursue him, even when he couldn't see her as more than a friend.

"And after 5 years of pining for him, he finally agreed to try things. And he told me that If I could get him to fall for me in a month, he would stay. And like an idiot I believed him."

"So what did he do?" Chat asked, attempting to sound casual.

"He decided to start seeing this slut, Chloe Bourgeois, behind my back. Or at least he's apparently in love with her."

Chat carefully pushed Marinette off of him, and ran out of the makeshift shelter. She followed him out, only to see him vomit over the railing. It landed with a splat, luckily in the gutter by the walkway, far from the bakery entrance.

"Ew Chat."

"Sorry. I've met her once or twice. No way he likes her," he said, fighting a second wave of nausea.

Marinette laughed, actually laughed.

"Well I'm glad you and your stomach don't think so. Unfortunately she showed me a video as proof," she said disappointedly.

Chat frowned, but didn't ask any more. It seemed to be hurting Marinette to talk about the details.

"Ah. I gotcha. Well, I hate to steal too much of your time. Just know that you always have people to turn to. And if things with Adrien don't work out, you'll find someone. You are the most amazing person I have ever met, Ladybug included. Any guy would count himself lucky to be your guy," he soothed, hoping she realized that Adrien had nothing to do with her value.

"Even you?" She asked, catching him off guard.

He stumbled on the fence surrounding the balcony, eventually catching his balance.

"Especially me," he said, jumping into the night.

Marinette sighed. Luka had said nearly the same thing.

"Well I guess at least I have options," she thought.


	13. Day 12

Hey Y'all, its been a while. I hit a bit of a writer's block on this, and then life got busy. I just wanted to say thank you to the people who encouraged me even when I was struggling to get my ideas onto paper.

Months later and I am still unaffiliated with Miraculous Ladybug.

Day 12

"Listen Alya. This is important," Adrien begged.

"Maybe if you weren't such an a--"

"Hey, before you finish that sentence, just hear me out. What Marinette heard was kinda a joke between Nino and I. My humor kinda took a toll in the last couple years, so it wasn't very funny. But I'm in love with Marinette, and I need to tell her that. I'm not asking you to force her to take me back, but would you at least ask her to hear me out?"

The phone went dead, and Adrien's heart froze.

Did she hang up on me?

Finally she spoke. "Um… I don't know Adrien, you hurt her pretty bad. "

"I swear I'll do my best to fix it. And…" he sighed desperate," to thank you for watching out for Marinette, I'll get you a 10 minute Skype interview with Chat Noir."

"Wait, really? That would be so great because I haven't been able to update the Ladyblog much since I started my internship, and I bet I could get so many views… and… and we're still angry at you, but I suppose I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Hey, thanks Alya. I- well, nevermind, I'll tell Mari that in person."

"Bye, you absentminded cinnamon roll."

With that the call ended.

Adrien waited patiently, staring at his phone and imagining Alya talking to Marinette at that very moment.

The minutes turned into an hour, and just as Adrien was losing hope, his phone rattled in his pocket.

To: Adrien

From: Marinette

I'll be at your house tomorrow at 5pm. You'll have 5 minutes to explain yourself.

Adrien felt something slide against his face, and was surprised to feel moisture when he went to wipe it away. He could feel his heart swelling as if it were going to explode.

"Plagg! She still loves me!" The boy beamed.

"Yeah, yeah," his Kwami complained,"we all knew that already."

Adrien found himself checking the house, making sure that everything was clean, completely forgetting that not only was Gabriel a neat freak (even at this low point in his life), but that the maid had just cleaned the entire building.

"What else can I do? Oh, a gift!" It took the boy a few minutes to find some yarn and crochet needles, and several YouTube tutorials before he could do anything, but 4 hours later, he held his prize, hoping that it would act as a token of his sincerity.

As he prepared for the next evening's visit, he felt his phone vibrate again.

Call from Alya

"Hey, Alya, what's up?" Adrien asked, his voice betraying his nervousness.

If the reporter picked up on his anxiety, she didn't comment on it. "Hi Adrien… so… you mentioned something about an interview with Chat Noir? When can I expect that?"

"Um… I contacted the individual who is going to contact him..." he said, hoping that it wasn't too much of a lie to say that Adrien had talked to Adrien about talking with hero Adrien.

"and they've gotten back to me. Anytime in the evening this week."

"How about tonight?" Alya suggested, her voice completely betraying her excitement.

"Yeah… I think that would work. I'll pass on your info to him and he'll call you in an hour or two?"

"Perfect! Thanks Agreste!"

And with a click, it was all over once again.

With the interview in mind, Adrien began hunting for a place to take his laptop. He knew it had to be a part of the mansion that no one would be able to recognize. If anyone saw a family portrait, an engraved belonging, or even a familiar wallpaper or bookshelf, it could be traced back to the Agreste family. From there his identity would be in grave danger.

As he searched the house, Adrien heard a door creak open, and saw his dad stumble out.

"Father, I have a strange request. I was wondering if there was some part of the house that… is unfinished, or unrecognizable. I'm working on a project and I wanted to record something that wouldn't be recognized as Agreste Manor."

Gabriel stopped and nodded as if the request were normal, bracing his arm against the wall for balance.

"W-well, it's not-t-t like I'm u-u-using it anymore. And it does fit his require-requirements," the man mumbled to himself.

Without another word, he beckoned his son to follow him and walked to his atelier. In a moment Adrien was in the office, and in the next he found himself moved to a dark room, a single ornamental window overhead.

"This here- t-this was an obserb...ovzerbatory… ofservratory… ob-serv-a-tory. Observatory of sorts. I don't u-use it any more, so yoooou are ok to film he-here," he stuttered, barely able to keep himself upright.

"Thank you father. Are you ok?"

"F-fine. I'm just a little tired… hey, h-how are things going with that designer girl. Haha who ar-re we kidding-idding-kdding? We b-both knooow her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. A-are you dating? Cuz, no rush, but I could use some grandchildren… b-babies alwaaays seem to make life better. And I could use some…" hi slurred speech wandered off as he slumped against Adrien.

The young man carried his father back to the elevator, and from there was able to get him to the atelier, and finally to his desk. Adrien sighed as he walked back towards the secret room and the volatile odor of alcohol left his nose.

Within 10 minutes he was set up, and he called on Plagg.

"Plagg, claws out!"

As soon as he was ready, he hit the call button on his laptop.

"Hi! Chat, can you hear me. We are live right now, and your fans want to know what's been going on?"

"Yes, I can hear you. How about me?"

"Oh wait, Chat I can't see you on my screen yet. Have you said anything?"

"Yes, I did. I said I could hear you."

After 5 minutes the awkward communication difficulties had been resolved, and Alya was on a roll.

"So, Mr. Noir, you've been a lot more quiet as of late, and that's even before Hawkmoth stopped his tirade. Are there any problems with your Lady-love?" She questioned.

"Um, if you mean Ladybug, we are just friends," he responded cooly.

"And if I didn't?" She retorted, probing into his life for just a hint of excitement.

"Oh. Well, I guess there is a girl… but… well it's complicated."

"Chat, tell us more about this mystery girl."

"Alya… it's kind of embarrassing… and… well… she could be watching. And she isn't exactly available right now, if you know what I mean."

"Hey, I was promised 10 minutes, so even if you die of embarrassment, I want you to use your other 8 lives to finish," she teased,"but really, no reason to worry. Just tell us what you like about her."

"Well. To be honest, I love her. I'm in love with her. She's quite possibly the nicest person that I've ever met, and she can be funny when she wants to be, plus she is a great cook. She's totally creative, and brilliant. She is a planner, and she executes her plans so well. And she does this cute thing where she stutters when she gets nervous. And Marine--marinara sauce is her favorite, which is good because I love pasta," he recovered, hoping no one noticed his obvious faux pas as he and Alya continued.

And no one did. No one except a single designer named Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

(Insert gasp)

And you probably thought I had lost my cliffhanger skills.


	14. Day 13

I'm starting to remember how much fun I was having with this story. Heads up, this chapter is especially "gut punch" ish.

Special thanks to gesswhojoedoe, who helped by previewing the chapter and helping me make a couple great changes.

Disclaimer: the months of my absence, I had picked up a few hobbies... unfortunately none of them have helped me claim the rights to MLB.

**Day 13**

Adrien stared at the calendar on his desk. In the corners of all the days he had written the numbers 1 through 30, with the final day circled in thick red sharpie. That was the day he had to have everything perfect. But it wasn't the day he was focused on.

"Uh, so Plagg. Since you're chaos, like the opposite of luck, unlucky things like 13 are actually lucky, right?" Adrien posed.

"Um, well not really, if anything I think it's worse," the Kwami reported.

An expletive slipped past Adrien's lips.

"Why, it's not the 13th."

"No, but…" Adrien began.

"Oh, its 13 days into your little love bet with Marinette. Yeah. Today isn't gonna go so well, Adrien. I would count it lucky if you ended up with a punch to the gut and a broken heart."

Adrien gave an exasperated sigh.

As morning turned to noon, he had taken his lunch to his room and was trying to enjoy it. The truffle omelette smelled absolutely divine, and the bacon and sausage next to it were staring at him, their tantalizing flavors beckoning his palate. After trying to resist the tempting flavors, he gave in, tossing Plagg his tributary camembert.

For once Plagg and Adriens' stomachs thought in unison as the pair hungrily devoured their meals.

"Mmm," The black Kwami groaned, patting his stomach,"that really hit the spot."

"Yeah,"Adrien affirmed, mimicking the action.

"Wow, kid, you don't usually act like that, whats up?"

Adrien shrugged. Honestly he wasn't sure, though he had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with a certain meeting he had coming up.

As the day dragged on, he yawned, and turned on his TV, where Nadja was telling all of Paris to be on the lookout for Chat Noir's newest lover, who she had dubbed "The Perfect Woman for the Purrfect Cat". She went on to say that there would be one cat lady who wouldn't grow up lonely, and a few other puns that the Chatish part of Adrien chuckled at.

Adrien looked outside of his window, where warm afternoon sun seemed to glisten against the azure heavens. He didn't care if this was the 13th day of his deal with Marinette. Life was idyllic.

He'd talked to Nino, who had heard through Alya that it was their conversation that Chloe had heard, and misconstrued to be Adrien's love. Now Adrien would tell Mari the truth.This blissful day was the opening to a halcyon era, and he refused to let fear get the best of him. For a moment he realized that Adrien had borrowed Chat's ideals, and the thought of his to incongruous personas reconciling brightened his day further.

Today would be sublime, a day that truly fit the description 'indefectible'. All the drama would soon be over. He felt relief at the idea that it took less than 30 days to resolve the infernal torment.

"Hey, Plagg," Adrien said, crawling back into bed,"I think I'm going to take a catnap for a bit. Wake me up a little before Marinette gets here."

He stretched out on his bed allowing the golden sun to caress his fair skin. The warmth bid him to slumber, and he willingly obliged. He felt his vision fade as his eyelids blinked shut. Plagg, succumbing to the warmth, snuggled up to Adrien, promising himself that he would only rest for a moment.

Yet, as the unwritten rule decrees: anyone attempting to take a short nap will fall asleep for longer than intended.

A knock wakened Adrien and Plagg at once.

"Adrien, Marinette is here to see you. She said she's in a hurry," the paradoxically calm but urgent voice of Nathalie called.

"Crap! Plagg, you were supposed to wake me up!" Adrien groaned.

"Brie. Parmigiano. Cheddar. Gorgonzola. Camembert, oh beautiful, delicious, stinky camembert … mmm," he slumbering Kwami replied.

Adrien tried to brush his hair with his hand, and ran out of his room, across the mezzanine, and down the stairs.

"Marinette," he cried a little too nervously, trying to give her a hug.

"Listen, Adrien. I said I'd hear you out, but this is just about listening to your side of the story," she said, though the pain in her eyes was apparent.

She wanted more than anything to run into those open arms and imbed herself in his shirt. She wanted to hold him and never let go. But she instead kept him at an arm's distance. After all, one can only be hurt so many times.

"Oh… right. well first, Oh, the present!" She said, bounding up the stairs once more.

"Adri--" she sighed. She was hoping that this could start and end as soon as possible, so she could go back to recovering. It still shocked her how badly she had been hurt, and she was almost certain that nothing Adrien said or did would change the facts.

It was only a moment later that the front door to the mansion opened, revealing none other than a yellow-clad demon.

"Adrikins!" She called, "it's me your beloved-- what are you doing here Dupain-Cheng?"

In just a few moments the room chilled by 10 degrees as the two locked icy gazes.

"Adrien invited me," she sneered.

"Why you little!" Chloe hissed.

Time slowed as she stepped towards Marinette, and drew her fist back. It was almost like a dream, Marinette thought. Chloe had never hit her, no matter how angry she had gotten, but here and now, it looked like she was about to throw a serious punch at her face.

As Ladybug, she would have dodged the attack instinctively, but as a meek mannered fashion designer, she was prepared for nothing more than one last heartbreak from Adrien Agreste.

As knuckles cracked cartilage, blood spilled, turning the eggshell tiles crimson.

"Adrikins!" Chloe shrieked, rushing to help with his bloody nose,"I didn't mean to! I swear!"

"Get out," he hissed, his voice dripping with venom.

Marinette just kept looking up at the mezzanine and then back at Adrien, trying to process what happened.

"But Adrikins, I wasn't trying to hit you. Where did you even come from?!" She pleaded.

"I don't care what you did to me. I told you, do you remember? I had ONE rule. One. And you broke it. Get out."

"But Adrikins! Please I'm the girl you want to marry, remember!"

"I don't care what you misheard or misunderstood. You broke the rule. You can leave. And don't bother ever coming back. You're not my friend anymore." He said coldly.

Chloe sidestepped to look around to Marinette "This is all your fau--"

Adrien cut her off. "Don't blame her because you're an unlovable monster. I gave you a chance when everyone else had given up on you, and you blew it. Now if you know what's good for you, you'll get out before I call the cops. And you'll never bother Marinette, ever again," he denunciated.

Chloe stared at his face, etching his hateful look into her very soul.

She turned and ran, slamming the door behind her. Even Marinette, still dazedly looking up and down had heard her sobbing departure.

"D-did, y-you jump o-offff," she pointed up.

"Yeah," he said sweetly," Are you ok, Marinette?"

Even as blood dripped across his face, he gazed at Marinette, looking for the slightest scratch.

"I-I'm fine… but, your nose. It looks broken."

"Oh, yeah. I should probably get it looked at. But I'm a quick healer. And I couldn't let Chloe hurt you," he said, holding out the scarf he had laboriously knitted yesterday.

"What's this?" She questioned, still occasionally glancing at the platform overhead, trying to gauge how high up it was.

"A scarf. I thought you might like it. It's not as nice as the one you made me, but…"

Both of them stared at one another for what felt like an eternity.

Ghast scarf had become an unspoken sign of love, a symbol of their feelings.

"Thanks Adrien. But… you still didn't tell me why you said those horrible things in the video."

"I-I was hurting. I didn't think we could really work. But Chloe is so shallow, I figured I could marry her and never be in love and she wouldn't know the difference. I was probably a bit too harsh with her, just now, but she shouldn't have done that. I guess… I thought falling in love with you was too good to be true."

"Well… maybe it was. Maybe we should just stay best friends." Marinette suggested, and in one sentence tore both of their hearts out.

"Um… ok. I guess I can't change your mind. But for what it's worth, I do love you. I love you Marinette."

She nodded and changed the subject. Soon they found their way to Adrien's room, where they played a few rounds of UMS 3, the first edition of the game they had ever played together.

Eventually Marinette got home (Adrien had insisted on driving her as it was late). They laughed the whole way, joking and talking like the years before.

It wasn't until she was safely in her room that she let herself cry.

"Tikki! I didn't say it back. I told him we should just be friends. I love him so much, but I just don't want him to hurt me again."

Her Kwami silently stroked her hair, and Marinette cried herself to sleep, wondering what exactly the "one rule" Chloe had broken that had made Adrien so uncharacteristically upset.

"I love you, Adrien…" She whispered.

"But it's finally time to move on."


	15. Day 14

I'm trying to send a chapter every Thursday, but I missed it last week, so you get it today. Wish me luck on this week's goal!

Day 14

The light cascaded into Marinette's room and she stared at glistening window before her. She imagined her onyx-clad hero glistening in the sunlight. Maybe he would leap in and convince her that he was the one for her. He would sweep her off her feet and rush her through the Paris Skyline, all while purring gentle soliloquies of his love. He would change her mind.

Her eyes suddenly shifted towards her door where she saw him changing her mind. His swirled black and blue hairs contrasted his feline opponent, and drew attention to him. Maybe he would sashay into her room caressing her soul with his melodic voice, and accompanying it with the soft strum of a guitar that would take her away from the dread of this world and into a more beautiful place. He would change her mind.

She then glanced at her phone, praying for a video chat, a call, a text, an email, anything. She envisioned her golden haired angel messaging her, begging her to take him back, swearing he would dedicate the rest of his life to making her happy. She could almost hear the warm tenor of his voice, the enticing call to be his and the promise for him to be hers.

Marinette shook her head, that was unproductive thinking. SHE had ended it with him, and it had been for her own good. Running to Adrien was a bad idea. He had let her down and hurt her every time they moved towards something more than friendship. Plus, Chat and Luka were almost throwing themselves at her. She would be lucky to have either one, so why chase Adrien.

But… they were still friends.

"Tikki, I think I'm going to pop by Adrien's house and say hello. Care to join me?" She entreated, opening her purse.

"Marinette," the disapproving voice scolded.

"What? Tikki, he's my friend. Friends visit each other. I wouldn't want him to think I hate him."

Tikki nodded and crawled into the handbag, though she grumbled to note that she wasn't completely convinced by Marinette's claims. That low groan quickly subsided as Marinette purchased her silence with a couple macarons.

As Marinette walked out of her doorway and then out of the bakery, she daydreamed of the potential things Adrien might say when he saw her at the entrance of his home.

"Marinette! Please take me back? I'll do anything!"

"Marinette, I know you don't care for me in that way right now, but I'll wait for you. I've always loved you."

"Marinette, upstairs into by bedroom now. I need you."

She giggled and felt her face flush at that one.

"Marinette," Tikki asked,"what's so funny."

The girl instantly went silent. "Uh… sorry, lost in thought, forget about it… I plan to as well."

The thoughts continued as she rang the doorbell.

"Marinette, I'm so glad to see you!" She could almost hear that one, followed by a tight embrace.

The gate opened and she walked to the front door. As soon as it unlatched she saw the form of Adrien in full fencing gear. Marinette enjoyed the feel of the muscular arms pull her close and heard the words she had hoped for.

"Marinette, I'm so glad to see you!"

The words echoed in her mind, something not quite right. She tasted the syllables, dancing across each consonant with the palate within her brain.

The voice… sounded… femine-ish?

Kagami stepped back and pulled the mask off to reveal her smiling figure. She and Marinettehad once been mortal enemies, but had developed a close friendship strained only by their mutual adoration for Adrien Agreste.

"I got here as soon as I heard you ended things with Adrien, and he invited me to spar with him. I'm soooo happy," she squealed, rather uncharacteristically,"I can't believe you finally decided to let go… um, I hope you're ok with me going for him now… because if you don't want me to, I'll totally understand."

Marinette opened and closed her mouth a couple times, her voice unable to function.

"Wait," the Japanese girl cried,"you weren't coming here to make up, were you?"

Marinette forced herself to respond, ignoring her own stutters.

"N-no, never would I leave him-- I mean take him back. We aren't just friends… I mean we are. Just good friends. I… I wanted to make sure he was recovering from the breakup. Yeah. So I'm actually happy that you are here for him," she smiled hollowly.

Kagami smiled back, unaware of the deceptiveness of Marinette's joy.

"Oh good! I'm so glad we got that settled! Now we can be best friends and nothing can come between us! Hey want to duel the winner? I think Adrien is pretty beat right now, so it'll probably be me."

Marinette shook her head. "I was… just in the neighborhood and thought I'd see him, but if you are here, I feel worse-- I mean better, hahaha."

Marinette was back home in what felt like seconds, crying into her pillow.

The afternoon sunlight was beginning to fade and Tikki tried to offer reasurances. "It's ok Marinette, remember, you just wanted to see him as a friend."

Marinette sobbed harder. "Tikki, we both know the truth. I-d-d-didn't just w-w-want to…"

"Shhh," Tikki whispered, caressing her holder's head,"I know. I know."

It was several hours later that Marinette woke up. The night had engulfed the horizon, and she looked around her darkened room.

Tom, oblivious to the situation, turned on her lights. "Hey Sweetie, I found this old spotlight, and thought you might like it if you ever so some kind of casual, for fun, fashion show."

She nodded, accepting the random gift. She looked it over, surprised to see the quality and utility of the light. It had both regular light and a UV light mode, and could project quite far.

As soon as he left, a thought emerged from her mind. She painstakingly hauled the tool up to her balcony, then grabbed a few heat resistant scraps of cloth and cut them into 4 small circles and a larger one, then placed them on the spotlight. With the flick or a switch, she could see the warm light project a paw print into the sky. Sure it was working, she flipped it to ultraviolet light, something she hoped Chat could see without bothering her neighbors.

She was sure her cat would come. He had to. As the minutes turned to hours, Marinette laid her head down and looked at the time. 11:30.

"Five more minutes till I turn it off," she promised herself. Though it took only a few more moments for the darkness to overtake her, and sleep to claim another Parisan that evening.


	16. Day 15

The last bit of this chapter was inspired by a conversation with Chubbyunicornmama in which we talked about animals and belly rubs.

Sorry I missed last Thursday's release. Lets see how this week's chapter goes.

Day 15

Marinette awoke to a gentle pat on her shoulder. She stirred from the chair on her terrace, not completely prepared to embrace consciousness.

"Purrrincess, you called?" A soft voice trilled.

"Yeah, fine,"she groaned drowsily. She looked at Chat and smiled, glad that if she was going to dream at least it would be about him, and not the heartbreaker blond.

"Chat, are you in love with me?" She asked brazenly, enjoying the power she had in a dreamworld.

"Um… yes. I love you. Definitely."

"No, silly kitty. I mean are you IN LOVE with me?"

Chat blinked at her, staring deep into her soul.

"Yes, Purrrincess. But.why do you ask?"

She smiled and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him into a passionate kiss. "No reason," she responded.

"Hey, um…" Chat began,"It's not that I dislike your kisses, but--"

Just then, a gust of wind pushed past them, causing Marinette to shiver.

"Um… I don't normally shiver in dreams… am I awake?" Marinette questioned nervously.

"Yes," Chat replied. He smiled warmly, hoping to keep her calm.

Marinette let out a nearly silent expletive. "Sorry, Chat. I wouldn't have asked that if I had known."

He shrugged and pulled her into a warm hug, and placed them next to each other on the chair Marinette had just risen from.

"Anyhow, what did you want, Purrincess?" He purred.

"W-want? Me? Who said anything about wanting you?"

Chat chuckled at her skittishness. "Well, I would say the nervousness doesn't help. And the fact that you asked me if I loved you when you thought this was a dream."

"That means nothing. Those are just random things you're saying."

Chat grinned, ready to use his ace in the hole. "Oh, and uh, Marinette. You also shined the cat signal up in the air in light that humans can't see. You literally used a "come here" symbol that only I would recognize."

Marinette grumbled a response which included several words Chat was surprised to hear. She added to that by gently (or somewhat gently) punching his shoulder, then pulling him closer.

"He lied, Chat. I wanted to give him another chance and he lied!"

Tears of frustration coated her face, and Chat wiped them away, trying to do some damage control. "What did he do this time?"

"W-well, I went to his house, and Kagami… she's our mutual friend, had stopped by and was spending the day with him."

Chat blinked.

"So Adrien lied because Salami--"

"Kagami," she corrected.

"Because Kagami tried to hang out with him?"

Marinette cleared her throat.

"And she said that she was planning on using his heartbroken to make a move on him!"

"That sneaky little bi…" Chat stopped, realizing that he seemed to have a very strong opinion for someone who was supposedly unrelated to the situation, "...mbo. I can't believe she would try and steal him from you! But that still doesn't explain how Adrien betrayed you."

Marinette looked at him, surprised. "So… do you want me back together with Adrien… I thought you loved me?"

"Well… that is complicated. I'll answer your question if you answer mine first," he bartered.

A sigh escaped the girl's lips. "Well the thing is, he let her in. He agreed to spend the day with her. And all after he declared his undying love for me. That kinda cheapens his words, huh? To claim to be in love with girl A one day, then chase girl B the very next day."

Chat sucked in air, hoping he could remember to breathe over the next few minutes.

"But… um… we don't know. Maybe Pastrami--"

"Kagami."

"Right, Kagami. Maybe she came to my-his house asking to borrow his phone because her car had a flat. Then when she used it, she said her ride was a few hours away and that she would have to wait all alone in the weather… basically guilt tripping him into letting her stay in his home. Since you mentioned she was sneaky, maybe she orchestrated the whole thing to trick him into spending time with her in a failed attempt to win his heart," Chat rationalized.

"Three things, Kitty. One, who says it was a failed attempt?Two, who's side are you on? And three, how about my first question-do you want me, or not?"

"Well the first one is easy. Kagami may be all that, but you are a goddess among men. I can promise you that NO ONE who has ever loved you will forget you until the grim reaper pries away their every memory in the cold void of death. And if there is a life after this, I can say that every guy who's heart you've held will remember you with absolute clarity… I know I will."

The last sentence seemed to hit them both by surprise, and they both thanked the twilight hour for hiding their crimson faces.

"Second question and third question. I am on Long-Term Marinette's side. I want you to be happy forever. If that means with him, or me, or even some blue haired musician, so be it. I want you to wake up and smile. I want you to win fashion shows, and sing babies to sleep. I want you, sure. But more importantly, I want you to be the happiest you can be, because of all humans in this world, you deserve this the most… In fact… can I tell you a secret?" He whispered, his voice catching on the last word.

She nodded in apprehensive excitement, wondering what was so secret to Chat.

"Well, Santa has a rule. One child. Just one, can have a present early. And not just any kid, but the best kid in the whole world. Well, we needed that gift once to stop an Akuma. Ladybug asked if it was her, and Santa checked. Well, I thought we were going to lose that battle, because… well… Ladybug is awesome. She kicks butt and takes names and handles all the responsibilities she has… but I thought you would be the number one kid. You care about everyone, even if you don't have blogs and news segments about you. You keep your word, and all your friends can count on you, and--"

Before he could continue, Marinette pressed her lips onto his, calmly adding to the passionate moment by twisting her arms and legs around him in a locked embrace. Chat returned her tender kiss with one of his own, and soon the pair were frozen in a deep kiss that spoke of love and hope.

Chat stopped, pulling himself away from her.

"What's wrong Kitty?" She asked, confused.

"Well, Mari. I love you. I am in love with you. But you have loved Adrien, and he just broke your heart, or maybe he hasn't completely. Either way, I want you to decide for yourself what you want, not take advantage of you when you are in the depths of being sad and lonely. I want to be your boyfriend, but maybe take a couple weeks to think about it."

Marinette smiled. "Deal… But we can still cuddle tonight, right? Just as friends, because it's cold."

Chat nodded, and again pulled her close.

"You know Chat, you sure like attention. Are you sure you aren't a dog? I could see you as a giant friendly Husky," Marinette said, rubbing behind his ears.

She smiled as she began to stroke his belly, and a giggle escaped his lips. He subconsciously slapped her hand away, but instantly it was back, probing his stomach for a weak spot.

"Bahahahaha Gahahahaa ahahaha!" He guffawed, his claws swinging like rows of guillotines, ready to deter any future rebels. Marinette just smiled and switched her attack to his ribs, sending a jolt of ticklish giddiness up his spine.

"STAWP!" he pleaded, still laughing.

This continued for several more minutes until she finally relented. "Poor Kitty doesn't like belly rubs, I see."

The pair laughed about it some more before again pulling close for warmth.

Adrien had 15 days to convince Marinette she should be with him. And in some hare brained scheme, Chat had negotiated two weeks for Marinette to think about being his girlfriend.

Chat pushed those thoughts aside and held the snoring girl close, hoping that in the end, whatever happened she would be happy.


	17. Day 16A

_Hey y'all time for another chapter. This week's chapter will only be a part of day 16, as a lot is going on now that we are halfway through the 30 days. Be prepared for a lot of changes in the story dynamics!__Warning- nothing too inappropriate in this chapter, but there may be some slightly suggestive material. Just try and imagine what an 18 year old Alya would say to Marinette._

Day 16A

Marinette strode around her room, one hand gesturing as she spoke, the other holding her phone to her head.

It had taken Marinette a good ten minutes to convince her friend that she was honestly being pursued by Chat Noir, but seemed to have finally figured out she was telling the truth. Now the pair were catching up on the last several days since their last call.

"No, Alya, all three of them are after me. So Adrien told me he was still in love with me. I'm not one hundred percent he was real, but it is possible when she came, Kagami was exaggerating Adrien's desire to have her there. Then I summoned Chat and he told me he was in love with me--"

"Wait, wait, wait," the reporter stopped," Marinette, do you mean he 'loves you' or he 'is in love with you'?"

"He said in love!" Marinette squealed in delight,"but he still wants me to see people and think about what I want. Which leads me to guy number three."

She sighed for dramatic effect, which only elicited a frustrated sigh from her friend.

"C'mon M. Who is this mystery guy?" She prodded, unwilling to play games.

"Well, it's Luka. Luka Couffaine! He popped up when he heard about the breakup with Adrien and was just a nice friend. Then yesterday afternoon he called me and asked me to go on a mystery date tonight!"

This time Alya joined her friend in excited squeals of joy.

"No way! I thought nothing would happen with him after you totally went for Adrien, but it sounds like he just reappeared out of nowhere… wait, but weren't you with Chat yesterday?" She asked, scratching her head.

She could almost feel Marinette's smile through the speaker. "So that is the complicated part. I went to sleep on my balcony alone, and Chat woke me up a little after midnight. We talked and snuggled and fell asleep, and he ended up next to me all night--"

"YOU SLEPT WITH CHAT NOIR?!?"

"DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT!" Marinette shouted back,"it was just snuggling when we fell asleep on my chair. Adrien and I fell asleep on his couch, stuff like that just happens sometimes!"

Alya bit her lip. Not only did she know about that particular event with Adrien, but she had a picture that Adrien had sent to Nino. Suddenly a smile crept onto her lips.

"You know I could write an article when I get back. 'Marinette Dupain-Cheng: The Seductress of Paris' This young woman has found herself sharing bedchambers with Paris's most eligible bachelors from humanitarian model- Adrien Agreste to hero and famous flirt- Chat Noir. Rumors are even circulating that she now has her sights set on Luka Couffaine, an up and coming guitarist, voted most likely to be Paris's next great musician at last year's French music festiv--"

Marinette had felt herself growing redder as the monologue continued, but she sat in stunned silence until she finally gained the strength to speak.

"You're lucky you're not here right now, or I would kill you where you stood," she said, only mostly joking.

Alya laughed and quickly countered. "I refuse to die young unless it's at the hand of someone famous!"

"That can be arranged," Marinette said in an absolute deadpan voice.

Both girls found themselves giggling at the absurd conversation they were having. Eventually the laughter died down, and Alya returned to their conversation.

"So, Luka is taking you out tonight. Where to?"

An exasperated suspiration sounded through the speakers. "He has told me NOTHING. when he said mystery date he meant it. The only thing I know is that my date starts at 6pm."

"Well, text him and ask what to wear. Guys always tell you a little bit if you ask that," Alya reasoned.

"I tried. He said and I quote I 'you would look beautiful wearing anything or even nothing, but that's illegal and carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and 15000 Euros, so anything that covers you will be perfect."

Alya snorted. "Wow, Couffaine is even smoother than I remember. Also, I don't recall him being a shameless flirt. He must've had lessons from Chat Noir."

"Regardless," Marinette said, returning to the original subject,"it told me nothing. We could be going anywhere… I guess maybe not the ice skating rink if he said any clothing is fine… but that's not a lot."

"That's probably a good thing, I mean, the last time he took you ice skating was not his finest moment from what I heard.Oh, ask him if you are going to dinner! They have to tell you if they plan to provide food or not."

"Nope. I asked and he said that 'You can choose to eat before the date or not. Either way I'll be prepared.' Like what does that even mean?"

Alya straightened her glasses, determined to help her friend solve this mystery.

"Ask him when he plans to have you home. He honestly can't avoid telling you when he expects to get you home," her friend suggested.

"Luka 3, Alya 0. He asked me when I would like to be home and told me that he would find a way to spend every second with me that he could, but that he promised I would be home by the time I asked."

Alya cursed under her breath. "Well, sorry Dupain-Cheng, you're on your own then. I can't think of a way to get someone like Luka to reveal their mystery."

"Ok, Alya. Thanks for trying. I'll let you know how it goes."

Marinette groaned in defeat.


	18. Day 16B

_Hey y'all, time for another installment of day 16. Things are really going to get interesting as the story progresses from here._

Day 16B

Adrien watched the small Kwami hover into his room as the evening sun glittered across his window. The boy fell onto his bed, and Plagg emulated the move, landing beside him.

"I don't know why you're so stressed. It's _her_ fault anyways. _She_ pushed her feelings on you, _she_ listened to your private conversation and formed an opinion without listening to you, _she_ dropped by your house and talked to your guest, and again didn't ask you about it. And she said she just wanted to be friends anyways, so why does she care?"

A melancholy sigh escaped his holder's lips, as he laid a wistful gaze at the ceiling, cerebrating the way to phrase his response.

"No. I… don't think so. But really it doesn't matter," he suggested, leaving a furrow in Plagg's brow.

"What the heck does that even mean?" He demanded, floating ever so slightly closer to Adrien.

"Well, think of it this way. You play the blame game to decide who is at fault. Who deserves to accept the punishment that must be claimed. But… I don't care about that. I want Marinette. And I want her to be happy."

"But Adri--"

"So who cares who did what? If we are playing that way, let's look at my flaws: I unknowingly led her on for most of our friendship. I broke her heart every day, not because I didn't want her, but because I wanted someone I couldn't have. I abandoned her as Chat, and ignored her as Adrien. And then I set up some stupid game AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY! Did I always love her? Did I want to force her to stop loving me? I didn't even know what I wanted until a couple days ago."

"Okay, but that isn't your fault, you didn't know any of that--" Plagg began.

"Yeah, but you know what I did know? I fell in love with an angel made from a one to one ratio of kindness to anxiety. I kissed a girl who was more scared of losing me than I could ever imagine. I picked the girl who deserves so much more than me, but probably tells herself every day, that she would be lucky to get a stray glance from me. Plagg… I chose this girl. And her "faults" and "imperfections" are a part of her that I love and accept."

Plagg stared at the library that seemed to envelope the rest of the room, almost encasing it, grabbing on to the space with its literary jaws, and consuming the place whole.

"Just like me and camembert," Plagg thought.

"Ok, I get it, Adrien. You know I'm always on your side, even if I don't have the best way of showing it. So… what are we going to do?"

"Well, that's the thing. Marinette wants to just be friends with Adrien, but is interested in the possibility of a relationship with Chat. So I guess that means for now Adrien will support his friend and Chat will court his Lady… er, by Lady I mean Marinette, of course. Not Ladybug," he said calmly, though his voice was tinged with defensiveness at the end.

Plagg nodded, as if overtaken by sage wisdom, though in reality he was trying not to make a remark about "Lady" and "M'Lady" being the same person.

The room seemed to slow to a dull hum of electricity flowing theough lightbulbs, and the pair gazed out the window at the setting sun. The sky glistened a warm golden brown, not unlike a perfectly crisped croissant promising unimaginable bliss just an arms reach away.

The temptation was too much for Adrien, who turned to Plagg with an imploratory mien.

"It's gonna cost you extra," Plagg barginned, and Adrien wordlessly nodded in response.

"Plagg, claws out!"

The incantatory phrase wrapped Adrien in a covering of black leather, consuming student, model, and son in its gaping maw, and spitting out a blithe hero; one ready to pursue love.

He dove from his window to the ground, using his baton to catapult himself across the wall at the last second, and simultaneously using the stone barrier to launch himself to the nearest building.

From there he leapt onto a flagpole, careening toward an awning below. From there he trampolined into the air, rolling onto the nearest rooftop and breaking into an exhilaratingly liberating sprint.

As he leapt from building to building, he saw the sun, weary from a day's work, lay down his weary head, and the moon peeked out from the horizon, her pale light foretelling of an evening with the promise of romance and joy.

Chat stopped at the structure across the bakery, eyes drawn to the angel framed on the terrace, bathed in the soft glow of moonlight. "Surely," Chat thought,"she must be the apex of goodness. Loveliness. Purrfection. I love Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and nothing will stop that feeling of mine."

As if waiting for the thought, a shadow below knocked on the residential entrance to the building. It was greeted by Tom, who warmly welcomed it into his home. Chat strained to make out the figure, but could only see the dark silhouette clashing against the light from the doorway, though he detected a strong floral scent that left him at ease.

After all, boys don't smell like flowers.

Moments ticked by, and eventually the door to Marinette's balcony opened to reveal the mystery girl, her identity hidden by the shadow of the building. Chat saw Marinette's face light up, and he found himself smiling at her joy, wishing he could pop in and meet this mysterious friend of hers that smelled strongly of some woody perennial foliage. Roses perhaps?

The figure stepped out of the shadows, nearly causing Chat to fall off of his perch. The moonlight clearly showed Luka Couffaine, a bouquet of scarlet roses outstretched. Chat strained to hear the conversation between the two, forgetting the rudeness of such an act.

"...So nice of you! They're so beautiful."

"I saw them at a floral shop I passed this afternoon and they reminded me of you. The deep red is like a symphony of passion, warmth, and kindness, and the stems' cool green chorus is your gentle brilliance and creativity, binding you into a very angel of Heaven."

Chat scowled at that, after all, he had thought of Marinette as an angel first. His Angel. His Purrincess.

"So, Luka, where are you taking me on our date?"

"Well, that depends, are you hungry?"

Her nod was enough to provoke a gentle laugh from the musician.

"Good, then my reservation at 'The Flavourful Fermata' won't be going to waste."

Chat's scowl deepened. He crawled into the shadows, hoping to find some useful advice.

"Plagg, claws in."

His Kwami appeared, confusion painted on his face.

"Is that Luk--"

"Yep. And I don't know what to do. I told Mari I would be happy whoever she chose… but I really thought I was a shoo-in for her heart. I-- I wouldn't sabotage her date, but I can't just sit here and let Luka woo her…"

Plagg smiled wide, his eyes shining as if he were born for this very moment.

"So don't ruin HER date. Ruin his."

Adrien shot his Kwami a confused look.

"Do I need to spell it out for you kid? It would be wrong to make her feel bad on a date, so don't guilt trip her, or pull a fire alarm at the place they are going to. Put the heat on Luka. Do something that Marinette won't even notice, but that will get under his skin," Plagg prodded,"let him know that you'll fight for Marinette."

Adrien smiled, though not as deviously as his friend. Something knotted in his stomach, telling him this plan was wrong. Yet, as many times before, jealousy blinded the boy and robbed him of reason.

"I think I have just the idea, Plagg."

_Ic: Chat had some good points, and I started to wonder who was really causing all the purroblems here? Eventually I realized that in most cases no individual can claim 100% responsibility... but this is a story, so really all the conflicts are my fault. Peace! (hastily runs away from readers)._


	19. Day 16 C

Alright, another chapter up. Btw- Day 16 will end up being 5 parts, so assume what you like.

Day 16C

Marinette stood on the balcony, a warm smile painted on her face.

"Luka, I love these flowers. You really ROSE to the expectations I had."

He shot her a curious glance. "Was that a pun?"

Marinette laughed proudly. "Yeah, a… friend is really big on them. I think they got me hooked too. Wait, do you not like puns?!"

"No, no, no. I haven't really told a lot of them, so I wouldn't say I am a big fan of them… but I guess they're … BOUQUET."

A light shone on her face. Whether it was moonlight or some unseen force of joy was difficult to discern. "Was that a pun?"

"I-I couldn't… leaf you alone with this pun party," he said shyly.

"You are so cute when you make puns," Marinette squealed.

Across the street, Adrien clenched his fist. Even with his regular hearing he could tell when another man encroached on his territory, and with the second pun Luka had definitely crossed the line.

"Plagg, claws out!"

No sooner had he uttered those words than he found himself propelling his body upward with his staff. Chat looked down to see Luka directly below him.

It took Chat only a moment to catapult himself away, pushing farther and farther from the location of his defeat. He made it to a secluded alleyway, close to his target.

"Plagg, claws in!"

He strode out of the shadows, confidently sauntering along the dock. Ultimately he stopped at the boat he remembered from long ago.

Adrien rapped his knuckles against the hull.

Juleka entered the deck, followed shortly by Rose.

"Hey Adrien, what's up?" Juleka called.

Instantly his bravado dissipated as he pondered the ludicrousy of his request. Sweat drizzled down his brow, though that might have had to do with his speedy travel to the boathouse.

"Um… so I have a favor to ask of you Juleka… and if it's weird you can say no… but… um will you go on a date with me… right now?"

The three stood there silent and rosy cheeked, Adrien still on the dock and the duo of girls on the boat's deck.

"Listen, Adrien, it's sweet of you, and it's really unexpected, but Rose and I are sort of--"

"Yeah, I know you two are hanging out right now, and I am sorry this is so last minute. But I'll pay you 200 euros," he begged.

"Waaait. I think I know what's going on," Juleka smiled,"are you thinking of taking me to 'The Flavourful Fermata'?"

Adrien nodded, his cheeks only flaming more.

Rose squealed in delight. "Jules, I didn't know you could read minds, read me next!"

"Wow," Adrien thought,"they must be really close friends to have cutesy nicknames for each other."

Juleka smiled as she brushed Rose's bangs from her eyes. "No, silly. Luka is taking Marinette there tonight. Somehow Adrien found out, and now he wants to take me to distract Luak from Marinette."

Adrien hung his head down. "Yeah, sorry. I know you wouldn't betray your brother. Can you do me a favor and just forget that I said anything?"

Juleka looked at Adrien, then at Rose, then again to the model. "You said 200 Euros?"

Adrien nodded, caught a bit off guard.

Juleka returned her attention to Rose, grabbing her by the hand. "Well, Rosie, would you mind?"

"No way, go ahead!" She grinned, thinking of the fun dinner they could have the next night with 100.

"Wow, you guys even ask each other for permission to hang out with friends? You must be really close as friends," Adrien commented.

"Um, not exactly, we are actually--" Juleka began.

"Oh, gotcha. Yeah, my mistake for assuming," Adrien apologized.

"Obviously they aren't just friends but best friends as well," Adrien realized to himself.

Juleka placed a kiss on Rose's cheek before allowing Adrien to escort her to the restaurant.

When they made it there, the hostess stood at her podium and emotionlessly grumbled something about a reservation.

Adrien coughed, prompting her to look up at the pair. "Oh my, I am sorry Mr. Agreste, I was kidding, obviously someone of your reputation is always welcome at our humble establishment."

As she led them to a table, Adrien sighed. "Sorry, I usually don't do that kind of thing. Just because I'm famous doesn't mean I should get to skip waiting, but today is kind of an emergency."

"It's ok, I get it," Juleka said encouragingly,"so what's the plan? I'm guessing that 2e want my brother to see us?"

"Yeah. But preferably without drawing Marinette's attention. But… why are you doing this? I thought you and Luka were close?" Adrien inquired.

"We are. That's why I'm doing it, that and the cash," she grinned shyly.

Adrien gave her a confused look, wordless requesting that she continue her explanation.

"Oh. Right, so when Luka kept getting ignored by Marinette, he decided to give up on her, but he kept un-giving up on her. So he eventually made me promise to stop him if he ever went after her again. I wasn't sure what to do when I found out he was taking her here tonight. But now I'm making some money and keeping my promise."

Adrien nodded, finally understanding. It was at that moment that Marinette and Luka walked in joking about restaurants.

"Well thank you very… munch?" Luka half asked, escorting Marinette to the booth next to the pair of schemers. They lifted their menus over their heads, pointing to them and whispering. When Adrien looked up, he smiled victoriously.

He and Juleka were on the same side of the booth, while Marinette had her back to them, and Luka was in perfect view of the pair.

"What can I get you two tonight?" A waiter said, starting Adrien.

"Um… I'll have…" he started, then hatched an idea,''I'll have the most aromatic thing on your menu."

Juleka looked at the menu, then Adrien, her cheeks bright red. He patted his wallet, knowing what her wordless question was. She smiled and turned to the waiter.

"Sir, I'll have the lobster and steak," she said sweetly.

Adrien almost laughed. If he hadn't packed his wallet with bills just yesterday he would have been in trouble.

Now it was time to play.

Adrien locked eyes with Luka just as he put his arm around Juleka.


	20. Day 16D

_Special Thanks to my wonderful friend gesswho for help (with this chapter especially). I had to to some decent reworking to get this nicer than the rough draft, but I love how it came out... that being said-_

_EXTREME WARNING: the next two chapters will be VERY Lukanetteish, so if you are opposed to that ship of thing, you may want to read some nice MariChat right after this (I would recommend a new story Kitty Love by my good friend Epcot97)._

_Ep I don't know what to suggest you do (maybe write a couple chapters to your latest story), good luck if you choose to read it... ;)_

**Day 16D**

Luka didn't clench his jaw, or bunch his fists like a normal person in his situation might. The very most he displayed was a gentle furrow of his brow.

"Hey, Luka, are you frowning?" Marinette asked.

His face immediately returned to a calm adoring expression that he wore whenever he looked at Marinette.

"Yeah, it's nothing. I just need to head… somewhere," he said standing up.

Marinette nodded.

Luka walked towards the bathroom, then swiftly turned around right before he reached the door and walked to Adrien's booth.

"Scoot," he whispered menacingly.

Adrien, shocked by the uncharacteristic emotion, complied and in so doing also pressed himself closer to Juleka. He could see that while he had dutifully obeyed the command, he was somehow making things worse with Luka. Adrien felt a duality of fear and triumph as Luka sat next to him, the scowl he wore earlier already back.

The trio were nearly silent as Marinette looked through the menu less than 2 meters away.

"Hello everyone," a voice boomed from an overhead speaker system," tonight we will be hearing from The Sunshine Parade, playing covers from Jagged Stone's latest album 'Only Me', enjoy the show!"

Adrien smiled, remembering the day 3 months before when the album had debuted. He and Marinette had spent an hour and a half silently sitting in her room listening to the pain infused lyrics as Jagged begged his mystery lover to choose him.

Marinette had stared at him the whole time, and it was only now that Adrien understood why.

Adrien's attention was now directed at the front of the restaurant was a gold plated stage, violet curtains draped across the back to make it pop, a hardwood dance floor directly below it. It was a rather obvious way to direct attention to the spot, but in his focus to avoid Marinette and antagonize Luka, he had missed the quartet preparing to play entirely.

The lead singer looked at the trombonist. "Jonathan, start us off," he called, and was immediately met with a jazzy brass intro. The lead took the moment of awe to jump into the song, a rich vibrato that reminded Adrien of Frank Sinatra. Somehow the rock music instantly transformed into a jazzy 50's rendition of itself.

Adrien let his thoughts wander along with the lyrics, almost forgetting that his rival was sitting next to him.

"When you walk with him I never smile,

Cuz he cannot make you happy."

**_Yeah Mari, don't fall for him._**

"But when you talk with me I always smile,

Cuz that's the way it should be."

**_Purrincess, pick me. _**

"I love you, do you love me?"

"Do you love only me?"

"Only me? Only me?"

**_Marinette, do you love me?_**

The music continued, and by now the Couffaines and Adrien seemed confident that Marinette wouldn't overhear them.

"What are you doing with _him?" _He directed at Juleka,"I thought you were going to spend the evening with Ros-"

"Change of plans. And I thought you said that I should 'mind my own business' when it came to relationships? Hmm? And now here you are neglecting Marinette to talk to Adrien and I about Rose."

With mention of the model's name, Luka suddenly turned to the blond. "What's wrong with you?! First you tell Marinette you love her, then you're dating Kagami, and now you're in a date with my sister? If it didn't hurt Marinette, I would tell her what kind of melody your soul sings. By the way, it is a dissonant piece of garbage if you were wondering."

Adrien smiled sickly, wondering how Luka had heard those things. "You know nothing about me minstrel boy. Now why don't you go and treat that girl the way she deserves? Or at least try your best. Hmm?"

The scowl deepened as Luka glared at him. "I'll treat her better than you ever did."

Luka stood, then leaned close to Adrien. "And by the way, I don't know why Juleka ditched Rose to hang out with _you_, but if you do _anything_ to my sister you'll wish that you had never met her."

With his threat delivered, Luka stood up and walked back to the table. It took him only a moment to return to his usual calm demeanor, cheerfully conversing with Marinette.

Adrien's food came, as did Juleka's meal. To his disappointment, Adrien discovered that the restaurant's most aromatic dish was a lasagna with a creamy camembert sauce. Instead of eating he focused on talking to Juleka, occasionally being a bit flirtatious, with her permission.

As the meal moved along, Luka tried to force himself to look away, but even still he caught glimpses of Adrien laughing and smiling with his sister. Eventually he felt his regularly cool blood boil when he even saw the model dab at the corner of her lip to clean off some steak sauce.

"That's it," Luka said, standing.

"What's wrong?" Marinette asked, concerned.

Luka felt his muscles relax and reminded himself that his purple haired sister could take care of herself… especially after he had painstakingly taught her how to incapacitate any guy who might give her trouble.

"It's time to dance," Luka smiled innocently, warming her very soul.

"Wait, what?"

"Dance, you know, with our feet? The restaurant allows people to dance on the dance floor near the stage. With this somewhat jazzified rock, we should be able to have some fun swing dancing."

Marinette turned cherry red. "I-I-I can't dance."

"Oh trust me, everybody can dance. Just let your heart feel the music and let it move you," he flashed her a smile," now dancing well is another story, but I don't really care about that."

Marinette reluctantly agreed after a little more encouragement, and Adrien watched in stunned awe.

Luka showed her the basic steps, and explained hand movements along the way.

After 20 minutes the pair were performing nearly flawlessly.

"You and me were meant to be,

There's no one else I'd rather see.

And I love you and you love me,

It's just us two for eternity."

_"Do I love Luka? Or is this about Chat? Or… Adrien? Hey, focus on this date right now. But still… who is this song about? Who do I love?" Marinette argued with herself._

Adrien stared as Luka twirled Marinette, showcasing an elegance he had never before seen in his Purrincess, completely unaware of the moral conundrum the girl was going through at that moment. Their hands slid apart as they separated, and the blue haired man pulled Marinette into a perfect lift, bringing her down once more. As the patrons crowded to see the performance, nearly abandoning their meals, the musicians took note and slowed the music to a slow dance, the singer drawing out each syllable into a romantic story of its own.

"The world could all but disappear,

And all'd be well if you were here.

I pray that you'll always stay near,

I lo-ooo-oove you, my-yyy deaaar!

Marinette decided that for just that moment she could imagine Luka as the love of her life. She clung to him, finding warmth in his cologne mingled with his scent. She could feel his strong protective muscles under the sleeves of his shirt. His heartbeat was soft but consistent, like a metronome, his smile like that of an angel granting miracles.

In an almost silent utter, she whispered the thoughts of her heart.

_"Luka, I might love you."_

The stray thought came to Marinette's mind as the number came to an end. At the same time Luka dipped Marinette, and to the delight of their newfound audience, placed a kiss on her lips.

Adrien looked at Juleka's plate to see it was empty.

"We're leaving," he said, pulling a few bills from his wallet and leaving them on the table. His camembert lasagna lay completely untouched next to the money.

_Waaaaah! That really blew up in Adrien's face, eh? Imagine how different this could have been if he had taken the high road. Oh man, lets just hope this whole thing isn't gonna turn inti a chaotic battle royal for Marinette (well, maybe dome of you chaos lovers would enjoy that ;) )_


	21. Day 16E

_Well, this will be the concluding chapter to day 16. I can only hope that as I go to bed after sending this chapter out than none of you hunt me down in my sleep. Reminder- Lukanette Chapter! Forgive me if you hate the chapter. _

**Day 16 E**

As the couple walked back to their table, Luka found his eyes glued to Marinette, not even noticing Adrien's departure.

"Ha, I guess you were lying," he smiled, his warm look nearly melting Marinette's heart.

"What? What do you mean?" Marinette asked, her face covered in a haze of infatuation.

Luka gave her a knowing look, then seemed to crank up his smile to a 10. If her heart hadn't been thumping before, it definitely was now.

"Well, you said you couldn't dance, but your every footstep caressed the melody better than the voice of the lead singer. That's the kind of girl that breaks hearts every time she walks out of a room."

Her cheeks flushed, and she turned back to her plate, silently swirling a scoop of spaghetti onto her fork.

_"Maybe if I spill marinara sauce all over myself, Luka won't notice my blush," she joked to herself._

"Haha, your face is so cute!" He exclaimed.

The exclamation was followed by a flying plate of spaghetti. Marinette embraced her awkward and clumsy nature, preparing for a coating of tomatoey stickiness.

Her eyes were locked shut for those few microseconds. They remained locked as she waited for the sauce to pour across her face, fulfilling her own sarcastic prophecy.

As the dribbles of time collected together to form seconds, a chilling thought popped into the temporarily blinded girl's mind.

_"What if I flipped my plate and spilled it all over Luka!"_

She slowly opened her eyes to see Luka, hand extended, holding the plate with her meal still intact.

"Got it, be careful with the random compliments while you eat food, or you might… spaGET it all over the table," he grinned.

In a moment Marinette went from wanting to laugh, to wanting to cry, to wanting to just smile at Luka forever. Her emotions reached an impasse and as a result she sat stone faced, unable to process what she was feeling.

"Hey, don't stress it Mari. I've always known you were clums- that you had a penchant for moving unusually. Anyways, I've always been overly coordinated. So…" Luka trailed off.

He froze for a moment, collecting his thoughts, or perhaps summoning his courage as he spoke to a quiescent Marinette.

"So… if we ever chose to stick together, we could cancel it out and be two normally coordinated people."

Marinette's heart suddenly decided on an emotion and the poor girl burst into confused tears.

"What's wrong, Mari?" He tenderly inquired.

A gentle sob mixed with her words, obscuring a few of them from Luka's understanding. "I-I'm jus-so lucky to-ave met a-guy-lie you. And I don't-knooow if I-lo-you or Cha-www, or Adr-een and… and… and I just want to be happy."

Luka gazed at her beauty, willing himself to say something useful, anything that could bring solace to his sorrowing love.

"Um, I don't know if any advice I could give would be any good, especially since I don't think I understood half of what you said. But I want you to be happy too, and I'll do anything I can to make sure you are happy and stay that way."

Marinette turned in their booth and wrapped Luka in a deep personal hug, trying to use the affectionate act to express the words she couldn't say.

"Luka, thank you," she whispered into his ear.

As she pulled away, he saw streaks of black start to form from the corners of her eyes.

In a moment Luka was on his feet, running to find a napkin, while wishing he had thought to bring a handkerchief.

He found one and rushed back to Marinette so quickly that he dashed his knee on the corner of the bench. He landed on his other knee to stabilize himself, his hand outstretched, holding the napkin.

A bump on his foot caused him to turn around. Walking past them was a flustered looking waitress, her arm full of dishes. She looked at Luka on one knee. Then at Marinette's tear stained face. Then back at Luka.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your proposal!" She squealed, rushing towards the kitchen.

"We aren- I didn- it's not what it look- I don't even have a ring-" Luka stopped, realizing she was already gone.

"Hahahahahaha!" The hearty laughter erupted next to him, and Luka turned to see Marinette doubled over in the booth, unable to contain her love of the awkward situation. Slowly, she calmed down, though her face still wore a troublemaker's grin.

"Hey," the blue haired man admonished teasingly, while gently wiping away the mascara streaks from his date's face,"this is your situation too, Mrs Couffaine."

The pair burst into laughter again, this time interrupted by a small group of excited waitresses standing over them. The leader of the group was the girl who had first bumped into Luka. She was carrying slice of cake with a picture of a ring frosted on it.

"We have a custom of bringing a complementary slice of cake to couples that get engaged at The Flavorful Fermata," she explained, placing the cake on their table.

"Oh, that's what I was trying to tell-" Luka began.

"Oh, no, you must."

"What Luka means is-" Marinette said.

"It's tradition. We want you to have the cake. In fact, we insist," she said, before turning on her heels back towards the kitchen.

"Congratulations!" One waitress called, following the first girl's lead.

"I hope you have a wonderful life together," another added, joining her coworkers.

With reservations, the pair ate the slice of cake, realizing their refusals wouldn't be heard.

After dessert, Luka paid the bill and the couple headed out to the next destination of Luka's surprise date.

As they walked towards the restaurant's parking lot, they passed by a steel railing. It was at this point that Marinette dared to glance at the boy who was in the process of finding his way into her heart. He seemed to notice and looked back at her, a lovestruck look in his eyes. Startled, Marinette backed away, right into the railing, tearing her jacket against it.

"Oh, no!" Luka exclaimed.

"It's fine," Marinette confessed,"I get so nervous on first dates that I usually spill something on myself, or back into something, or fall in the mud… so I make these cute little disposable jackets out of scrap cloth."

She removed the remnants of the jacket, a gaping hole from the cuff of the right sleeve to the middle of her back, and placed it in a garbage bin.

As they reached Luka's motorcycle, he looked at Marinette.

"This next ride is going to be a little long, and it'll get cold," he explained, then slipped off his leather jacket, and extended it towards her. The musician stood there, patiently waiting in a light blue t-shirt that accentuated his muscular build (particularly his biceps, which were half exposed from the sleeves, and were obviously stretching the fabric around them).

Marinette tried to argue, but found a shiver escaped her mouth in the place of words. Luka wore a victorious expression as Marinette snatched the jacket and put it on.

As they began their ride, Marinette couldn't help but notice this ride felt different than the one from her house to the restaurant. She had wrapped her arms around him, just as she had done the first time, but now she could feel firm ridges against her fingers. She almost let go of him completely at the realization that those ridges were his sculpted abs.

She continued the ride, noting how warm his jacket was. It was fleece lined, and even better, she could smell his scent on the jacket; a gentle musky smell that made her heart beat faster but simultaneously gave her a feeling of calm contentment.

In the pale moonlight, the wiry hairs of Luka's arms stood straight. It was only then that Marinette considered how cold it had to be for him. She let go of him with one hand and unzipped the jacket, then returned ger hand ot its original place around Luka, pressing herself against his back even tighter, hoping to share some of her abounding warmth.

_"I'm sharing warmth. Just like Chat does," she thought._

Instantly she cursed herself for pressing herself against Luka and at the same time thinking of that feline ball of warmth.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the motorbike's deceleration. Luka pulled into a vacant parking spot and popped out his kick stand. Marinette hopped off the bike, taking off her helmet, and handing it to Luka.

He took her hand and walked to the entrance of the large building: Jagged's Palace.

A hot blush splashed on Marinette's face. "Oh, Luka, a hotel. I don't know if I'm ready for…"

Instantly Luka turned just as red.

"Oh, no! No way! I mean… I really care about you Marinette, but I would never. No, I've met Jagged a few times, the latest being last year's French Music Festival. I mentioned that it was lame that I couldn't practice in the middle of the night on those rare occasions that inspiration struck. Jagged had just built this place and he gave me a key to the roof. Apparently he likes to 'rock on' on the roofs of his hotels."

Marinette felt a sense of relief as they continued the conversation. "Ah. I can see how you might be able to get away with it since Jagged's Palace is so much taller than the buildings around it… but what about the room below it?"

"Oh, the penthouse suite is reserved specifically for Jagged. And the ceiling is soundproofed, but we aren't going to play music there today, so that doesn't matter," Luka called running ahead.

"We aren't?" Marinette asked.

"Come on, we don't want to miss it!"

Marinette rushed into the building and followed Luka to the elevator, all while wondering what he had in store for them. He put a key into a keyhole labeled 'roof' and turned it. Instantly the elevator door closed and it shot up, going directly to its destination.

When the elevator reached the rooftop, the door opened to reveal a blanket laid out on the roof. Luka sat on it and beckoned Marinette to follow suit.

She did just as a streak of burning white cut across the sky overhead.

"Was that a shooting star?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah. There's a meteor shower tonight, and this place seemed like the perfect place to watch it," he mentioned as Marinette snuggled up against him.

"By the way, did you make a wish on that shooting star?"

Marinette shook her head.

"That's ok, you'll get the next one," Luka decided.

They spent the next hour and a half watching the sky, talking, laughing, and staying close for warmth.

"So, Luka. What made you think to take me stargazing?" Marinette asked.

"Well, I love the stars. I like to make wishes. In fact I'm still waiting on one I made a year or two back," he remarked casually.

"Really? What was it?" Marinette asked.

"I can't tell you. It might not come true if I do," Luka responded.

"Fine, but waiting for a wish isn't the only thing that you like about stars, is it?" Marinette replied.

Luka thought for a moment before speaking.

"I've always loved music and I guess it's not normal, but when I see beautiful things, I hear music. When I first saw a shooting star it played a melody I'll never forget… just like when… nevermind."

"What?" Marinette prompted.

"I said nevermind," Luka whined, departing from his usual cool collected self.

"Nope. Tell me," she demanded, turning into the version of Marinette that enjoyed jokingly chastising Chat Noir for his misbehavings.

"Um… well, the only other melody I can't get out of my head… one that I treasure more than the song of the stars… is the one that I heard the first time I saw you."

The roof was instantly silent as traffic, the hum of lights, and even heartbeats went mute.

"Sorry, I don't want this to STARt to get weird," Luka said.

Instead of responding with a pun, Marinette placed a kiss on his cheek.

_"Yeah, there is definitely a place in my heart for Luka," she decided._

She pulled even closer to him, trying to absorb every last drop of warmth from him. Shortly after, a gentle snore let her know that Luka had been lulled into slumber's enticing trap.

_"I can snuggle up with Luka. I just have to remember that I have to wake him up in a minute. I won't hear the end of this from Alya if I fall asleep."_

Marinette smiled, glad that she had found someone so warm to hold, and temporarily forgetting about Chat as her mind calmed down. Not that she was sleeping, Marinette was just resting her eyes for a second, maybe a minute.

…maybe longer.

_Well it looks like in this war of love, Luka had the winning hand on day 16, but will he keep his lead, or will AdriChat find a way to tie things up? Find out next week!_


End file.
